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Between June and October 2022, at least 70 young children in The Gambia died of Acute Kidney Injury
(AKI) after consuming contaminated pediatric cough and cold syrups. The World Health Organization
(WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), working with The Gambia's
Ministry of Health, identified unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol — industrial
toxins — in four products manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited of Haryana, India, and
imported into the country in June 2022. A National Assembly Select Committee subsequently found
Maiden Pharmaceuticals responsible for the deaths and recommended legal action and compensation for
victims' families. Since 2023, credible and independent investigative journalists documented allegations
that an Indian state regulator was bribed to substitute test samples of the syrups before they could be verified
as contaminated — allegations under continuing investigation in India at the time of writing.