TASHKENT -- A court in the Uzbek capital has opened the trial of 21 individuals over the deaths last year of 65 children blamed on an Indian-made cough syrup.
The Supreme Court said in a statement that the trial started on August 11.
The defendants include former top Uzbek officials of the Scientific Center for Standardization of Medicines who were responsible for licensing imported medical substances, including Indian pharmaceuticals company Marion Biotech's Doc-1 Max cough syrup, and executives from the private Uzbek firm Quramax Medical that imported and distributed the syrup.
Charges against the defendants include tax evasion, the sale of substandard or counterfeit medicines, abuse of office, negligence, forgery, and bribery.
In December 2022, amid reports of mass deaths of children blamed on the Doc-1 Max syrup, Uzbek authorities suspended the sale of all Marion Biotech products in the Central Asian country.
The Health Ministry said at the time that Doc-1 Max syrup contained the toxic substance ethylene glycol.
Criminal probes over the affair have been launched both in Uzbekistan and India.
The Indian regulator has canceled Marion Biotech's manufacturing license and arrested some of its employees.
In December, a legal representative of Marion Biotech said the company regretted the deaths.
In October last year, cough and cold syrups made by Indian firm Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd were blamed for the deaths of nearly 70 children in the Western African country of Gambia.
A laboratory analysis by the World Health Organization found that Maiden Pharmaceuticals' syrups contained "unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol," chemicals often meant for industrial use.