A US law firm has been hired by Gambia to look into possible legal action after at least 70 children died last year from kidney injuries after consuming cough syrups, the news agency Reuters reports.
A government-backed investigation found that contaminated medicines from India were "very likely" to have caused the deaths of the children 70 children, most under 5 years old between June and October 2022.
Local doctors suspected cough syrups imported from India were the likely culprit. Their suspicions were re-enforced after tests by the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the presence of lethal toxins, sparking a global hunt for the contaminated medicines.
Gambian Justice Minister, Dawda Jallow, told Reuters legal action was one option under consideration by the government, the first sign of potential international litigation over the deaths.
Jallow however has not indicated who would be the target of the potential lawsuit.
India's government has said its own tests on the drugs found no toxins but has since made drug testing mandatory for cough syrups before export.
