Amid reports of the death of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district due to the consumption of Coldrif cough syrup, Director of Colors Hospital in Nagpur, Ritesh Agarwal, said that they haven't identified the main cause of the kidney complications in children who consumed cough syrup in Chhindwara.
The state on Saturday banned syrups containing dextromethorphan and a combination of chlorpheniramine maleate and phenylephrine hydrochloride for children under four years, following guidelines issued by the centres.
MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav informed on X that 'Coldrif' syrup has been banned throughout MP.
The ministry said most coughs in children go away on their own and do not need medicine. Cough and cold medicines should not be given to children under 2 years, said the advisory.
“Such blatant adulteration in medicines for children went unchecked for a long time, indicating a complete failure of law and order and the administrative machinery in the state,” Nath further stated in a post on X.
An independent probe by the Madhya Pradesh State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) confirmed that the three cough syrup samples tested at the state laboratory were free of Diethylene Glycol (DEG) and Ethylene Glycol (EG).
NCDC and various agencies are also conducting tests on water and entomological samples to rule out infectious diseases as the possible cause of children's deaths.
According to the police officials, the cough syrup was packed in 800 boxes and the value of the seized bottles is more than Rs 1.22 crore.
Bloomberg has shared the test results with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as Iraqi and Indian officials.
Assam police seized a huge quantity of contraband drugs from a Tripura-bound truck and apprehended the driver in the Karimganj district.
