Cough medicines that kill instead of curing

The death of 14 children in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara after consuming cough medicine has spread panic across the country. Following this, alert instructions have been issued in the state of Kerala as well. The Drugs Controller has instructed that cough syrup should not be given to children below the age of two in the state. Although a prescription is mandatory for children over the age of two, it is advisable to avoid giving cough syrup to children under the age of five until the special test results for existing cough syrups are available. Even if it has to be given, the exact instructions regarding dosage and duration should be followed.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, three children have also died in Rajasthan due to health complications after taking cough medicine. With this, the death toll has reached 17.

The Madhya Pradesh police have registered a case against Srisan Pharma Company, based in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, which manufactured the medicine after high levels of chemicals were found in the syrup with the trade name 'Coldrif'. The doctor who prescribed the medicine has been arrested. The incident of the death of the children also points to the need to carefully evaluate the quality of medicines manufactured for children. The Union Health Ministry has initiated steps for this.

The system for approving medicines in India needs to be overhauled. It has already been alleged that this is one of the areas where corruption is rampant. The central government should also start considering the implementation of laws that ensure strict punishment for those who violate the standards to be followed while manufacturing medicines in the context of the Chhindwara incident. The primary conclusion is that the deaths of the children were due to the high presence of 'diethylene glycol' in the cough medicine they took. This affected the functioning of the kidneys and was the main reason for the deaths.

The Drugs Control Department has issued an advisory in Kerala not to give cough or cold medicines to children under the age of two even if they have received a prescription.

'Coldriff' syrup, which has been accused of causing the deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh, has been sold in Kerala as well. 170 bottles of it have been collected from Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannur areas for testing. Although authorities say that the SR-13 batch that is suspected to have caused the deaths has not been sold in Kerala, extensive tests are needed to confirm this. Similarly, doctors also need to be more careful while prescribing new medicines. There is a trend here of even adults buying and using cough medicines without a prescription and without following the correct dosage. In the wake of this incident, such trends should be completely avoided. Drugstores should also not be willing to provide cough medicine without a proper prescription.