After cough syrup deaths, Gwalior hospital under probe over worms in medicine

Amid the ongoing probe into child deaths linked to a toxic cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh, a government hospital in Gwalior's Morar town is now under scrutiny after a woman complained of finding worms in a bottle of antibiotic medicine given to her child, officials said on Thursday.

Following the complaint, authorities sealed the entire stock of Azithromycin antibiotic oral suspension at the Morar government hospital and sent samples for laboratory testing in Bhopal. Drug inspector Anubhuti Sharma said, "A woman at the government hospital in Morar complained of worms in a bottle of Azithromycin oral suspension."

Although the bottle brought by the complainant was open, officials said the matter was immediately investigated. All 306 bottles of the antibiotic distributed and stored at the hospital have been recalled and seized. Sharma said that a preliminary inspection of some bottles revealed no visible signs of insects, but testing was essential to determine contamination.

The medicine in question was a generic Azithromycin oral suspension, commonly prescribed to children for infections, and manufactured by a Madhya Pradesh-based company.

Officials added that samples have been sent to Bhopal for testing, and another set will be sent to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata.

The complaint comes amid outrage over the deaths of at least 24 children in Chhindwara district due to suspected renal failure caused by the adulterated Coldrif cough syrup.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued an alert against three "substandard" syrups identified in India - Coldrif, Respifresh TR and ReLife.

In a related development, a district court in Madhya Pradesh has denied bail to paediatrician Dr. Praveen Soni, arrested in connection with the Coldrif cough syrup deaths case. Police told the court that the doctor admitted to receiving a 10% commission from the pharmaceutical company for prescribing the medicine.

Investigators said Dr. Soni and several other doctors continued prescribing the syrup even after noticing that children who consumed it suffered severe urine retention and kidney-related complications.

Police records show that the first child death was reported on August 29, when a four-year-old died after being given Coldrif, followed by a three-year-old girl on September 5 who developed acute kidney failure.

The court was informed that the Union Health Ministry's Directorate General of Health Services had issued an advisory on December 18, 2023, instructing all states and Union Territories not to prescribe Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs to children below four years of age. Despite this, police said Dr. Soni "knowingly prescribed the dangerous and potentially lethal syrup" to multiple children.

Dr. Soni's counsel argued that Coldrif had been used for over 15 years to treat cough and cold symptoms, claiming the doctor prescribed it in good faith.

However, the court observed that as a senior practitioner, he had a duty to follow national advisories and stop prescribing the drug once serious side effects emerged.

In its October 8 order, the court noted that the allegations were "serious in nature" and that granting bail could allow the accused to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence. His regular bail plea was subsequently rejected, and he was remanded to judicial custody.

Police registered an FIR on October 4 after laboratory tests confirmed the presence of ethylene glycol, a toxic chemical, in Coldrif syrup samples. The substance is suspected to have caused the kidney failure cases and deaths.

Authorities have now formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to track the supply chain, probe pharmaceutical firm Sersan Pharma, its distributors, and doctors allegedly involved in promoting the syrup for financial gain.

The Madhya Pradesh government has banned the sale and use of Coldrif and ordered a statewide recall of all remaining stock.

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