TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) has named PT Afi Farma and CV Samudra Chemical as suspects in cases of acute kidney failure in children. Police's PR chief Insp. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said that the two companies were responsible for the circulation of syrup drugs that contained harmful substances Ethylene Glycol (EG) and Diethylene Glycol (DEG) above the safe threshold.

Dedi said that CV Samudra Chemical is a supplier of Propylene Glycol (PG), the raw material for making syrup drugs produced by Afi Farma. In a joint examination with the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM), investigators found 42 drums of PG in CV Samudra's warehouse. After being tested by the Central Police Forensic Laboratory, the PG contained EG that exceeded the threshold.

Speaking at the Police Headquarters on Thursday, November 17, Dedi said that based on police investigations Afi Farma did not check and test the PG they bought from CV Samudra before using it to make the syrup medicine.

"The company only copied the data provided by the supplier without conducting tests and quality control to ensure the material is safe to use for production," Dedi said.

Dedi said investigators had also questioned 41 people in this case. "Thirty-one witnesses and 10 experts."

PT Afi Farma is charged with violating Law 36/2009 on Health and Law 8/1999 on Consumer Protection and is now facing up to a sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp2 billion.

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Meanwhile, CV Samudra Chemical is charged with violating Law 11/2020 on Job Creation concerning health and Law 8/1999 on Consumer Protection, facing up to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp2 billion.

Dedi said investigators would investigate the possibility of Afi Farma having other suppliers of propylene glycol (PG) that met the quality standards for drug manufacturing.

BPOM: Two Other Companies Also Named as Suspects

Previously, the Health Ministry stated that EG, DEG and EGBE contamination was the cause of cases of acute kidney failure in children, which reached hundreds between August and October.

According to the Ministry's data, 324 children suffered acute kidney injuries, 195 of them dying. As of now, 27 are still being treated. All of them, the ministry said, had one thing in common: consuming syrups contaminated with EG, DEG and EGBE.

The BPOM had released a list of drugs suspected of being the cause of increasing acute kidney failure in children. Apart from PT Afi Farma, there are two other drug manufacturers whose syrup drugs were contaminated with these hazardous chemicals: PT Yarindo Farmatama and PT Universal Pharmaceutical Industries.

BPOM head Penny K Lukito said the two companies had also been named as suspects.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA | NUGROHO CATUR PAMUNGKAS | MIRZA BAGASKARA

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