India’s drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), has issued an alert for cough and cold products containing Pholocodine, advising people to stop consuming the chemical, Indian media reported on Thursday.
DCGI also advised doctors to stop recommending products containing pholcodine.
DCGI Rajeev Raghuvanshi said the move to ban the chemical came after the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked regulatory bodies to withdraw or restrict medicine containing pholcodine.
“To verify whether the patients scheduled to take general anesthetics containing (NMBAS) have taken pholcodine-containing cough syrups in the previous 12 months and also be aware of anaphylactic reactions in such patients,” the notification issued by the DCGI reads.
On Wednesday, the WHO raised its concerns regarding pholcodine, urging regulatory authorities to subsequently withdraw or restrict the use of Pholcodine-containing cough and cold remedies.