State cautions manufacturers and vendors after child deaths in MP, Bengal govt sends 150 cough syrup samples for quality tests

Kolkata: In the wake of deaths of several children in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly after consuming the cough syrup, ‘Coldrif’, about 150 cough syrups of different brands have been sent by the state to the laboratory for quality tests.

The state Health department is not going to take any risk as far as the safety of the children is concerned. All the chief medical officers of Health in the districts and the authorities of all the medical colleges across the state have been alerted by the Health department. The state government has also cautioned the manufacturers and sellers.

An advisory has also been issued pointing out that special attention must be given when it comes to procuring the pharmaceutical ingredients for preparing cough syrup, including propylene glycol IP, glycerine IP, and Sorbitol IP. The state health department has also made it clear that the ingredients should be bought from the government-recognised vendors. The raw materials will have to be tested.

The two cough syrup brands—Coldrif and Nextro-DS— that are under scrutiny for causing deaths in children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were not being supplied to any government hospitals, a senior Health department official said. The state drug control teams started a search to check if those brands were available in private medicine stores.

The cough syrup advisory for children has already been issued by the Union Health Ministry, as a precaution to avert any health complications among the paediatric population. The state drug control department has started checking with vendors to see if they are being supplied.

The latest advisory from the Union Health Ministry stated cold and cough medication should not be prescribed to children below two years of age, especially since cough among children were self-limiting and mostly resolved without pharmacological intervention.