Raising concerns over the consumptions of 'toxic' cough syrup, two children in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district lost their lives after allegedly taking 'Coldrif' cough syrup, said officials on Sunday. The two deceased have been identified as four-year-old Kabir, son of Kamlesh of Kalmeshwar village, and two-and-a-half-year-old Garmit, son of Nikhlesh of Jamun Bichhua village.
The 'Coldrif' cough syrup have been banned in Madhya Pradesh after tests confirmed the presence of diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic chemical. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also advised all states and union territories (UTs) for a "rational use" of cough syrups in "paediatric population". It has said that the samples it collected did not contain diethylene glycol, though.
Victims died of kidney complications
Officials in Betul said the two children died due to kidney complications. In a statement, Amla Block Medical Officer Dr Ashok Narware said it has not been confirmed whether they died due to the consumption of the cough syrup, adding that he has ordered an inquiry.
"They were taken to Parasia in neighbouring Chhindwara district for fever treatment where their condition worsened," he said, as reported by news agency PTI. "Both children developed symptoms such as kidney issues and abdominal swelling and were referred from Betul to Bhopal for advanced care. No post-mortem was conducted but reports of severe kidney complications were sent to the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CM&HO)."
Families blame Parasia-based physician for prescribing 'Coldrif'
According to the family members of Kabir, Parasia-based physician Dr Praveen Soni, who has been arrested now, had prescribed them 'Coldrif'. They said Kabir was first taken to Dr Soni on August 24 following a fever, but his condition did not improve. Later, he was taken to Nagpur and then to Bhopal, but he died on September 8.
Similarly, Garmit also died on October 1. As per officials, his family members had also consulted Dr Soni.
"Block Medical Officer (BMO) of the Amla block informed me that two children from their block were treated by a private doctor in Parasia, Chhindwara district... After their health deteriorated, they were referred to another hospital, where they died. However, it would be inappropriate to say at this time whether their health deteriorated after drinking the cough syrup or not," news agency ANI quoted Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Manoj Hurmade as saying.
"I have also issued an advisory in the district, urging the drug inspector, the Secretary and the President of the Chemists' Association not to sell any prescription medicines at medical stores or public medicine centres without a registered doctor's letter, as this incident occurred in a nearby district. Therefore, we all should pay attention to this and should not sell any such medicine unless a doctor gives a written prescription," Dr Hurmade added.
SIT formed to probe incident
The Madhya Pradesh police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death of children in Chhindwara. The 12-member probe team will visit the pharma company in Tamil Nadu to ascertain the cause of the incident.
