On Tuesday, the court, presided over by Justice E. Jaiteh of the Banjul High Court admitted into evidence medical reports including death certificates and laboratory results of the victims of the Acute Kidney Injuries (AKI).
In proving their case against the Maiden Pharmaceutical Company Limited (1st defendant), Atlantic Pharmaceuticals Limited (2nd defendant), Medicines Control Agency (3rd defendant), Ministry of Health (4th defendant) and the Attorney General (5th defendant), families of the AKI victims provided the court with medical documents of their children.
Counsel L. Farage, the lead counsel for the families of the AKI victims, has tendered death certificates, laboratory results, child welfare records and other medical documents of the victims.
However, the Minister of Health or a representative from his ministry was supposed to appear to produce documents listed in the summon that was served on him through the records office, but counsel Binga D. informed the court that the minister was served on a Friday, adding that “in an ideal situation, the minister would receive them on Monday, which was yesterday”.
The presiding judge, Justice E. Jaiteh, stated that court orders were bound to be respected. “If the minister was served, even if he did not have the documents, he should have come and answered to the court. It is a contempt of court for not following court orders,” Justice Jaiteh said. “They cannot just sit at their comfort zone and disobey the court orders; that is disrespectful to the court and it is criminal offence pursuant to section 106 of the Criminal Code.”
However, counsel Farage stated that it was the responsibility of the defence counsel to advise them of the consequences of not respecting the court orders.
“My lord we will make sure that the message is related to the Minister,” responded counsel Binga D.
On July 26, 2022, cases of AKI among children in The Gambia emerged. Ensuing investigations in Ghana, France, and Switzerland detected Diethylene glycol (DEG) and Ethylene glycol (EG) in medication samples, leading to the removal of numerous paediatric medicines from the market. The affected products, all from the Maiden Pharmaceutical Company, were promptly withdrawn.
The Ministry of Health of the Gambia confirmed that at least 70 children died due to the consumption of the cough syrup produced by Maiden Pharmaceutical Company in India.
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