Kenya’s drug regulator is taking back a shipment of Johnson & Johnson’s children’s cough syrup, it said on Thursday, a day after Nigeria removed the drug from the market, which is owned by the Benylin Pediatric company.
Nigeria’s health regulator said that laboratory tests carried out on the syrup showed high levels of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022 in one of the worst outbreaks of drug poisoning. To swallow in the world.
“Laboratory analysis carried out on the product showed that it contained unacceptably high levels of Diethylene glycol and was found to cause severe oral toxicity in laboratory animals,” said the Nigerian National Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC).
The Kenya Drugs and Poisons Board (PPB) said in a statement that it has started an investigation and has advised that the sale of the cargo of the product be stopped and returned to the sellers.
Kenvue, which now owns the Benylin brand after splitting from J&J last year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The returnable cargo was manufactured by J&J in South Africa in May 2021 with an expiry date of April 2024, PPB said.