Nigeria's drug regulator issues alert against a painkiller made by Mumbai-based SynerCare

Another Indian pharma manufacturer is in trouble as  Mumbai-based SyneCare's paracetamol suspension has been flagged as substandard. Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued an alert against the painkiller — Para Clear Suspension 125. SynerCare's sample painkiller comprised toxic ethylene glycol, which the Nigerian regulator said could be fatal. The Mumbai-based pharma company's contaminated samples were being sold in Liberaria and made in Ahmedabad, and were sent to Nigeria for testing.

The NAFDAC said the product also failed the requirement for acute oral toxicitiy with the deaths of five of the laboratory animals recorded.

"Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. Toxic effects can include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury which may lead to death," the Nigerian regulator's public order stated.