Two kids in Rajasthan lost their lives, while several others fell sick in Rajasthan after consuming a generic cough syrup, reportedly supplied to the Rajasthan Government.
This has been going on for the past few weeks. The syrup had been distributed by the government health centres in the state.
A senior doctor who was trying to prove the safety of the syrup fell unconscious after its consumption. According to PTI, officials stated that an inquiry has been ordered, with 22 batches of the drug in question being banned.
Drug controller Ajay Pathak informed that the Drug Inspector of the Department collected samples from Sikar, Jhunjhunu, and Bharatpur, the test reports of which are expected within three days.
Earlier, the Department had received complaints of children falling sick after the consumption of cough syrup, as reported by PTI. He also added that the syrup should not be given to children below the age of five years.
Two children die in Sikar and BharatpurTwo children aged five years and two years respectively died in Sikar and Bharatpur. The child in Sikar was administered the medicine after ot was prescribed at a community health centre. On Sunday last week, he was given the medicine at the Chirana community health centre, after which his condition worsened. He was taken to the hospital on Monday morning, where he died.
Rohitashwa Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Dadiya Police Station, said that the child's parents refused to file a complaint in the matter or conduct any post-mortem. It was his maternal grandfather who registered a complaint.
A similar case was reported in Bharatpur, where a two-year-old died following the consumption of the same syrup, which was administered at a local health centre. His grandmother, Nehni Jatav, said, "Three of my grandchildren took the syrup. Two eventually woke up after vomiting, but Samrat never regained consciousness." She also stated that they got to know later on that this was all because of the medicine.
While proving the syrup's safety, a senior doctor, Dr Tarachand Yogi, who is in charge of the Bayana Community Health Centre, also fell unconscious. After taking a dose of the medicine, eight hours later, he was found unconscious.
Earlier, six children in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district died of kidney failure due to the alleged use of contaminated cough syrup. Two cough syrups were banned by the District administration after the incident.