[1/2] Logo of the Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. company is seen on a board outside their office in New Delhi, India, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File PhotoCompanies Maiden Pharmaceutical Ltd FollowBANJUL, July 21 (Reuters) - Gambia's government is "far advanced" in exploring avenues for potential legal action against Indian drugmaker Maiden Pharmaceuticals and a local distributor over toxic cough syrups believed to have killed dozens of children, it said on Friday. The small West African country has hired a U.S. law firm to explore legal action, the justice minister previously told Reuters. The Indian drugmaker Maiden Pharmaceuticals has denied wrongdoing, and the Indian government says that tests it conducted on the drugs showed they were not contaminated. The World Health Organization said last year that the India-made cough syrups contained lethal toxins ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – commonly used in car brake fluid and other products not fit for human consumption.

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Persons: Anushree, syrups, Pap, Nellie Peyton, Louise Heavens, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd, REUTERS, Maiden Pharmaceutical, Indian, Pharmaceuticals, Medicines Control Agency, MCA, Reuters, Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Government of, World Health Organization, World Bank, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, BANJUL, Gambia, Government of India, Banjul