Parents whose children died or were injured by tainted cough syrup wept with relief after an Indonesian court allowed a class-action lawsuit.
“My child’s struggle was not in vain,” said Noor Asia, whose four-year-old daughter died last year.
His family and relatives of 24 other victims have filed a lawsuit against the Indonesian government and eight pharmaceutical companies.
More than 200 Indonesian children have died from acute kidney injury since 2022.
Indonesia is not the only country affected by contaminated cough syrup. About 100 people have been killed in Gambia and Uzbekistan.
Investigations are ongoing in Indonesia, but local officials say there is no evidence yet to show links to cases in other countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning about six cough syrups manufactured in India and Indonesia.
“I didn’t know what I gave my child was poison,” Nur Asia told JEE News before the court’s verdict.
Her daughter Nasiya was prescribed cough syrup last year after she developed a fever. After consuming the medicine, she became very ill and died in hospital three weeks later.
The lawsuit seeks $195,000 in damages for each child killed and $130,000 for each child injured. His lawyer said the other parent would be allowed to join the trial.
“There will be no compensation for what has happened. It will not bring my child back,” Noor Asia cried.
JEE News tried to contact the eight companies involved in the lawsuit, but all had not responded before Tuesday.
“It is not fair if the responsibility is placed solely on the pharmaceutical industry,” said a lawyer for PTFI Pharma, whose cough syrup was used by most of the children in the case, adding that the government should Should also be accountable.
Another company, PT Universal Pharmaceutical Industries, said it had been using the same Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (FDA) certified system for its brand of cough syrup for about 30 years and bought the ingredients from an FDA-approved supplier. were
“Honestly, pharmaceutical companies are also victims – victims of raw material suppliers’ crime,” his lawyer said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said it was working on a compensation scheme.
“We have done our best to quickly find the causes, share information with other countries, the WHO, and come up with antidotes to treat the toxins.”
Indonesian authorities have discovered that local chemical companies used industrial-grade solvent materials – ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – in syrups amid a global shortage of pharmaceutical-grade solvents. Two substances are commonly used in antifreeze solutions for air conditioners and refrigerators.
