The companies have been ordered to compensate the families of hundreds of children who died or were seriously injured after taking the drug.
An Indonesian court has ordered two companies that distributed a toxic cough syrup that killed more than 200 children to pay compensation to each family whose child died or was injured after taking the drug.
Afi Farma and CV Samudera Chemical will have to pay up to 60 million rupees ($3,850) to the families. About 120 children survived the poisoning, which left them with acute kidney disease, some of them with disabilities.
Suspicions about cough syrups first arose in 2022, when some children began to become seriously ill after taking what their parents believed to be standard cold medicines. When some of them died, the government ordered the syrup-based medicines to be withdrawn from sale and revoked permits for more than 1,000 of the products.
Some 25 families have filed a civil suit against the country's Food and Drug Administration (BPOM), the Ministry of Health and eight pharmaceutical companies.
In a ruling issued late Thursday, the Central Jakarta court found Afi Farma, the pharmaceutical company, and CV Samudera, the supplier, guilty and cleared the Health Ministry and BPOM of any wrongdoing.
The court ordered the companies to pay the parents who filed the suit compensation of Rs 50 million for the deceased children and Rs 60 million for the injured children.
The parents had sought 3.4 billion rupees (about $219,000) for each death and 2.2 billion rupees (about $142,000) for survivors.
The court document, published on its website, did not include reasons for the decision.
Last year, a criminal court found East Java-based Afi Farma guilty of negligence and jailed its officials for failing to test ingredients sent by its supplier.
Investigations showed the syrups contained ethylene glycol (EG), a chemical commonly used in products such as brake fluid and antifreeze. A court document in that case said the concentration of EG in the syrups was up to 99 percent. International standards state that only 0.1 percent of EG is safe for consumption.
Afi Farma has repeatedly denied negligence.
In 2022, children in Gambia and Uzbekistan also died from kidney disease after taking contaminated cough and cold syrups.
