Pakistan blocking Indian APIs after cough syrup deaths

Pakistani pharma companies say they will stop using Indian raw materials in the wake of the cough syrup deaths, according to local media reports.

Officials in the Punjab government first called for the ban on use of Indian active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and industry has lent its support for the shift. Local pharmaceutical company owners met earlier this week and voted unanimously in support of the phasing out of Indian APIs.

"The pharmaceutical industry reiterates its unconditional support to the government," Khwaja Shahzeb Akram, Industry Pharmaceutical Standing Committee convener, told DAWN. Local pharma chiefs also urged the state to take action against multinationals that use Indian APIs.

It is still unclear if adulterated APIs from India are to blame for the deaths though. The director general of health in Punjab has publicly named Indian APIs as the cause of the deaths, but it is still a matter of some debate. A Pakistani pharma association called the claim "ridiculous."