Noida: Samples of paracetamol syrup — used as fever and pain medication — taken for quality assessment from the Noida district hospital were declared substandard and therefore “unfit” for use by the Gautam Budh Nagar district food and drug safety department, the state’s health department said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the product had been ordered to be recalled from the region.

Health officials said the medicine has been restricted from usage, and hospital authorities have been directed to halt its supply with immediate effect.

According to officials, the syrup was procured from Apple Formulations, an Uttarakhand-based pharmaceutical company in April 2022 to treat children at Noida government hospitals.

They said the medicine was supplied to around 115 health facilities in the city for administering to patients. It was, they said, not sold at hospital pharmacies.

The development comes at a time when several India-based pharma companies have been at the centre of a controversy regarding adulteration, especially in products exported to other countries.

District hospital chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Suneel Kumar Sharma said, “All the stock received from the pharmaceutical company is being returned, and the stocks of syrup given to hospitals and health centres across Noida are also being recalled.”

The food and drug safety department considers a medicine counterfeit if the level of salts — its chemical components — is less than 70%, while it is considered substandard if the level of salts is between 70% and 90%.

The development comes months after Dok-1, a cough syrup manufactured by Noida-based pharmaceutical company Marion Biotech, allegedly led to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan in December 2022, leading to investigations in India amid concerns about the drug’s safety. The syrup was not sold in India.