Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara has reportedly witnessed the passing of another baby following the consumption of cough syrup on Thursday. The incident comes only weeks after 24 kids had died in Betul and Chhindwara districts, allegedly after consuming a spurious cough syrup manufactured by a Chennai-based firm. However, the latest episode reportedly involves an Ayurvedic medicine.
The incident was reported in Bichua village, Chhindwara where Ruhi Minote, daughter of Sandeep Minote, was given an Ayurvedic cough syrup bought from the local pharmacy. The infant showed cough and cold symptoms, yet her condition worsened hours after the syrup was administered. The parents quickly rushed her to the Community Health Centre around 4.30 am. However, she was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.
The authorities have taken note of the incident and sealed the pharmacy from which the syrup was purchased, the Times of India (TOI) said in a report. Samples of the syrup have been sent to a laboratory for testing and Ruhi's postmortem report is awaited ahead of further actions, the daily added. The chief medical and health officer (CMHO) will lead a probe. According to the authorities, chemists have already been instructed against selling syrups or medicines for infants under one year without proper prescriptions from medical practitioners.
Chhindwara spurious cough syrup tragedy
Earlier in October, Coldrif syrup, a commonly prescribed children's syrup to treat symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, and fever, had claimed 24 lives in Madhya Pradesh. The medicine manufactured by a Chennai-based firm now stands banned after its samples were found to have contained diethylene glycol, a poisonous substance.
The state government has directed Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and anganwadi workers to go door-to-door to collect the cough syrup bottles to ensure that none of them remain in use.