Cough syrup deaths: NHRC sends notices to MP, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh

NHRC issues notices to MP, Rajasthan and UP, asks states to probe children's deaths from alleged use of contaminated cough syrups

States are stepping up vigil on prescribing and dispensing cough syrups to children after at least 14 of them died in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district due to the alleged intake of contaminated cough syrups.

 

This comes after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notices to three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — directing them to probe allegations of children’s deaths due to contaminated cough syrup and to immediately ban the sale of spurious medicines.

 

The body also asked the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to order an investigation into the supply of spurious drugs and instruct all regional laboratories in states to collect samples of the drugs and submit test reports.

 

Of the cough syrup samples collected from MP, authorities found contaminants such as diethylene glycol (DEG) in a sample of Coldrif cough syrup collected from the state. 

 

While the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has appealed to people to immediately stop the sale or use of a specific batch of Coldrif syrup, the Telangana government directed all district medical and health officers (DM&HOs) to sensitise the public on the alert concerning the particular batch.

 

“If people are in possession of the syrup (batch number SR-13), they should immediately report it to the local drug control authority on its toll-free number,” the Telangana government stated in its communication. 

 

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also said that an alert has been sounded in the state following reports of child deaths linked to the consumption of certain cough syrups in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

 

Urging parents to be cautious while giving any syrup to children below the age of five, the health minister clarified that the “substandard” cough syrup linked to the deaths of children in other states has not been supplied in Karnataka.

 

According to people in the know, several states are checking if the syrup from the indicated batch has been dispensed in their jurisdictions, with some even checking samples of all brands of cough syrup for contamination.