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2 kids die in Rajasthan after consuming cough syrup; doctor trying to prove safety faints
Drug controller Ajay Phatak said that the department's drug inspector had collected samples from Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Bharatpur.
The deaths of two children and some others falling sick in Rajasthan over the last few weeks have been linked to a generic cough syrup supplied to the Rajasthan government. The syrup had been distributed by the government health centres in the state.
Meanwhile, a senior doctor trying to prove the syrup's safety fell unconscious after consuming it. An inquiry was ordered and 22 batches of the drug in question were banned, PTI quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.
Drug controller Ajay Phatak said that the department's drug inspector had collected samples from Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Bharatpur, adding that the test reports are expected within three days.
The department had received complaints of children falling sick after consuming the cough syrup, Phatak said, according to PTI. He added that the syrup should not be administered to children under the age of five years.
Two children die after syrup consumption
A five-year-old in Sikar district and a two-year-old in Bharatpur died after consuming the syrup. The former was administered the medicine after it was prescribed at a community health centre.
The child was given the medicine at Chirana community health centre last week on Sunday, following which the child's condition worsened at night. He died Monday morning while being taken to the hospital, PTI quoted Rohitashwa Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Dadiya police station, as saying.
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Kumar said that while the child's parents had refused to file a complaint in the matter or conduct a post-mortem, his maternal grandfather had lodged a complaint in the matter.
This case was similar to the one in Bharatpur, wherein a two-year-old died after being administered the same syrup prescribed at a local health centre.
“Three of my grandchildren took the syrup. Two eventually woke up after vomiting, but Samrat never regained consciousness,” his grandmother Nehni Jatav said, adding that the family later learned this was because of the medicine.
Doctor faints after safety test
A senior doctor fell unconscious after consuming the syrup to prove its safety. Dr Tarachand Yogi, in-charge of the Bayana community health centre, took a dose of the medicine before worried parents, and was found unconscious in a car eight hours later, according to the PTI report.
This comes after six children in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district died of kidney failure over the past month due to the alleged use of contaminated cough syrup, according to district officials.
After the cases came to light, Chhindwara district collector Sheelendra Singh banned the sale of two cough syrups, with tests indicating they were allegedly contaminated.
