5 ms·

Children die after consuming India-made cough syrup

48 points by mfld 4y ago

tdeck 4y ago
> A batch of the syrup contained ethylene glycol, which the ministry said was a toxic substance. Echoes of the past here. > In 1937, S. E. Massengill Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, created an oral preparation of sulfanilamide using diethylene glycol (DEG) as the solvent or excipient, and called the preparation "Elixir Sulfanilamide". > Elixir sulfanilamide was an improperly prepared sulfonamide antibiotic that caused mass poisoning in the United States in 1937. It is believed to have killed more than 100 people. The public outcry caused by this incident and other similar disasters led to the passing of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which significantly increased the Food and Drug Administration's powers to regulate drugs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elixir_sulfanilamide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elixir_sulfanilamide
- thinking4real 4y ago
  We made all these laws and protectionary systems in the US. That drove up costs and so capitalists moved their businesses to other countries for cheaper labor and less regulation. Another lesson how laws only apply to the non rich.
  - miguelazo 4y ago
    There are definitely industries that have mostly moved abroad, especially in manufacturing, but I doubt you would find any foreign-made cough syrup at your corner drugstore.
  - gameman144 4y ago
    This statement feels pithy, but is it actually true? In order to participate in the US market, you have to comply with US regulations. Sure, morally dubious businesspeople might decide to move their business to some unregulated developing country, but that doesn't get around the fact that their company's products need to comply with US regulations to be sold in the US. As such, stricter product safety regulations aren't going to play a factor in moving operations abroad (though labor costs/practices still might, just as it did before).
aaron695 4y ago
[dead]
_siis 4y ago
Can anyone explain how to read this? The article appears to be paywalled if you have previously visited their website or more likely your IP has visited in the past month. Website seems to be only loading the first page and then using an XML request to pull the rest of the article down after a server side check. I rarely get to read articles from places that do this because it always says I've reached my limit despite not having visited. Pretty sure they base it on IP which any technical person would know IPv4 gets rotated regularly between ISP subscribers.
niij 4y ago
https://archive.vn/fKKc1 https://archive.vn/fKKc1

48 points by mfld 4y ago

> A batch of the syrup contained ethylene glycol, which the ministry said was a toxic substance. Echoes of the past here. > In 1937, S. E. Massengill Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, created an oral preparation of sulfanilamide using diethylene glycol (DEG) as the solvent or excipient, and called the preparation "Elixir Sulfanilamide". > Elixir sulfanilamide was an improperly prepared sulfonamide antibiotic that caused mass poisoning in the United States in 1937. It is believed to have killed more than 100 people. The public outcry caused by this incident and other similar disasters led to the passing of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which significantly increased the Food and Drug Administration's powers to regulate drugs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elixir_sulfanilamide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elixir_sulfanilamide

thinking4real 4y ago
We made all these laws and protectionary systems in the US. That drove up costs and so capitalists moved their businesses to other countries for cheaper labor and less regulation. Another lesson how laws only apply to the non rich.
- miguelazo 4y ago
  There are definitely industries that have mostly moved abroad, especially in manufacturing, but I doubt you would find any foreign-made cough syrup at your corner drugstore.
- gameman144 4y ago
  This statement feels pithy, but is it actually true? In order to participate in the US market, you have to comply with US regulations. Sure, morally dubious businesspeople might decide to move their business to some unregulated developing country, but that doesn't get around the fact that their company's products need to comply with US regulations to be sold in the US. As such, stricter product safety regulations aren't going to play a factor in moving operations abroad (though labor costs/practices still might, just as it did before).

aaron695 4y ago

[dead]

_siis 4y ago

Can anyone explain how to read this? The article appears to be paywalled if you have previously visited their website or more likely your IP has visited in the past month. Website seems to be only loading the first page and then using an XML request to pull the rest of the article down after a server side check. I rarely get to read articles from places that do this because it always says I've reached my limit despite not having visited. Pretty sure they base it on IP which any technical person would know IPv4 gets rotated regularly between ISP subscribers.

niij 4y ago

https://archive.vn/fKKc1 https://archive.vn/fKKc1