Public sentiment is characterized by immense outrage and sorrow over the failures of government oversight and systemic corruption within the pharmaceutical industry, following the tragedy caused by contaminated cough syrup. There are widespread demands for accountability and urgent reforms to ensure safety and justice for the victims.

Government of India

Pharmaceutical Companies

Health Ministry

Drug Regulators

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Currently the supervision of medical manufacturers is under the purviews of the respective states. This is surprising considering that bodies like FSSAI are centralised but drug control isn’t. 

Need to centralise and standardise it.

NewWheelView

Very tragic. This will happen again and again. And the deaths are just reported on newspapers, no questions asked or audit done.

If we have to go to the cause of it that lurks behind this issue — corruption and incorrect prescriptions/dispensation of the drug.

See what happened in Gambia and Uzbekistan— those kids died of acute renal failure. Pharmacy is a big business in India; it’s just that it’s poorly regulated and managed. CDSCO is just like BIS, another organisation without a purpose, unless there’s news flash or politician’s visit. Not to forget, news reports have been reported about addiction drugs in Nigeria, from an Indian pharmaceutical company whose owner told its business. DEA also reports that a substantial amount of precursor of narcotics drugs that eventually wind up in the hands of the drug-addict American arrive from our country.

Why do people not rely on generic drugs? Because their efficacy is suboptimal compared to a branded one. The poor people of the society would face the brunt as they can’t spend a lot of money on branded drugs, known as OOPE (out of pocket expenditure). The problem is certain branded drugs bypass the rigorous quality control and testing. As long as we have a no-tolerance policy to corruption, expect this to happen. Because in the end, certain people will fill their pockets with money and the others won’t get to survive another day.

Another contradiction, these drugs were tested by the union government and they claimed no contaminants. On the contrary, they were tested by a state government (I think, it’s the TN) and batches were found to be contaminated with ethylene glycol. This begs two questions. Firstly, was the methodology performed by the union government to test the contaminants inadequate or performed by incompetent staff - raising the question of competence and funding for the national laboratories. Secondly, the question of an element of corruption and political pressure in the final wording of the document existed. 

There is international oversight on this, including the WHO. Till there is even more pressure on the concerned authorities like the CDSCO and all pharmaceutical companies in our country, this issue will be rampant and nothing will ever solve. Dead children became text and photos on newspapers. Corruption on healthcare products and medicines are absolutely abhorrent and unconscionable. And incompetency should be weeded out, as it doesn’t look good on our country, if our nation is to pride ourselves on our pharmaceutical industry.

Another aspect, as a medical doctor myself, I have seen rampant prescriptions of cough syrups which is unscientific, lacking evidence. Especially when cough syrups are never to be given in children less than 2 years. Management in children (majority being common cold) is supportive. Honey could be used to modestly alleviate the symptoms of cough — again evidence-based. Again, cough syrups are OTCs (over the counter drugs), adding fuel to the fire.

Tricky_Chicken6399

happens .the thing is cough syrups are dangerous

Cheap_trick1412

mephistttoooo

Freee ka chakkar h , but capitalism jb itna ho jaayega country m toh mostly people will suffer eventually in the end cuz companies need only profit they don't care about our life !

IntrovertRancho

I also some stories were Indian medicines exported to Latina America, caused illness in the countries. We really need strong enforcement of drug standards.

Ok_Lavishness2625

sujobits

Sir but 73% Reservation is more important

DakuMangalSinghh

" However, after initial blacklisting, the company was allowed back into the tender process. Even though government labs exist, RMSCL reportedly relies on private labs for drug testing, which has raised concerns about the consistency and reliability of quality checks.

According to the investigative findings, if one private lab declares a drug substandard, the company gets the same drug cleared from another lab, and then, with the collusion of officials, secures fresh supply contracts." --  WHAT THE FUCK!!!

Long live these motherfucking bureaucrats, legislatures, executive and judiciary. I really want to dip these aasshats in septic tanks again and again.

sas8184

ExaminationFail25

You can sell anything in thing country just call it ayurvedic or herbal. Try questioning them and you would be called anti-national and someone with no regards with our culture &amp; heritage.


Also , remember how patanjali scammed people with CORONIL and no action happened against them.

UnicornWithTits

Head_Opportunity2651

This is not new in India..  there is a book" the truth pill "which mentions several events decade after decade relating to cough syrup using anti freeze and all... This is standard practice despite regulations and all. Drug makers will kill you and children for some money. Corruption is embedded in every cell here. Your life don't matter

GetGodmodeon

[deleted]

hustlingProgrammer

This is also the case of most packaged spices sold in our country but that have been blacklisted by foreign custom departments due to the risk of harmful additives in them.

Raj_Valiant3011

But hey, it cures the cough once and for all. The probably advertise it as such.

TootaFoota

That's the reason why people don't buy generic medicines in this country. Even though on paper they should be better the  no quality tests and controls.

DRAGONUV7890

Why are they protecting the same corporation they are trying to expose? name the damn syrup!

Forsaken-Sundae4797

Koi baat nahi, hindu rastra ke liye toh itna karna padta hai. Please ignore and move on with life. Consider this as a sacrifice. All hail Modi. 
JSR

ratinvirgo

7eaio

Government announce karti hai, yakeen karneka nahi

then_there_is_this

My cousin recently saw his little 1yo son eating a random mushroom (those wierd small ones that sometimes grow where your produce is growing) off the lawn. What he did? He ran there, panicked, ate one of the mushrooms and proceeded to call poison control. Needless to say the poison control lady was very speechless when she heard that he ate one too "to see if it is poisonous".

Thyriia

"I didn't die, so it must be safe" - That doctor probably

alwaysfatigued8787

Prescribing DXM to a two-year-old seems crazy to me, but this is obviously a case of contamination.

FiveDozenWhales

&gt;NDTV visited the factory of Kayson Pharma, but found it locked. The owner of the company, Virendra Kumar Gupta, was also not available for comment.

He knows exactly what happened

CheezTips

Say what you will, that doctor put his money where his mouth is.

SaltyShawarma

&gt;Jaipur A generic cough syrup manufactured by a pharmaceutical company for the Rajasthan government has led to the deaths of two children and at least 10 others falling ill in the state over the past two weeks, officials said. A doctor who took a dose of the syrup to demonstrate that it was safe was also knocked unconscious and was found in his car eight hours later.


Generic ?

Th kinda of Cough syrup has this guy been drinking

Cute-Beyond-8133

That must have been One Night Cough Syrup...

1stFunestist

This is not the first instance

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/08/31/1196893607/whatever-happened-to-the-case-of-66-child-deaths-linked-to-cough-syrup-from-indi

harakiri-man

The USDHHS has a head hunter on route to grab that doctor for a special government appointment.  He has all the brainpower necessary.

ZuesMyGoose

GreenFBI2EB

PermanentTrainDamage

Cant-decide-username

In 3rd world country, pharmaceutical companies provide kickbacks to the doctors prescribing their drugs so perhaps this is why the doctor really wants to prove the danger to be wrong.

PandaBroth

Pizzas_Coke

&gt;A generic cough syrup manufactured by a pharmaceutical company for the Rajasthan government has led to the deaths of two children and at least 10 others falling ill in the state over the past two weeks, officials said. A doctor who took a dose of the syrup to demonstrate that it was safe was also knocked unconscious and was found in his car eight hours later.

one_brown_jedi

The drug company accidentally sent the dose for druggists to the pharmacy.

mudjawd

&gt; The children who died were aged two and five.


&gt; At least 10 other children across Rajasthan have fallen ill.


&gt; 22 batches of the syrup have been banned.


**This goverment and people think that banning such medicine makes the problem go away.**


**Are Indians just Lab Rats to the rest of the world &amp; pharma companies to test drugs??** 


**Who approves this drug in the first place?? How did it reach the market without any trials??**


**Who justified &amp; approved it's usage? Why are we not investigating them??**

TPChocolate

Bro this is a generic version, meaning an off patent drug made by an Indian company in in some shady factory with an audit from Indian Drug Inspectors cleared by the Govt purchasing agency ( state), now figure the maths!!

Scary-Astronomer6530

What about consequences for the killing 2 children?

ChemistryNew3404

Indira allows Cipla and the Indian pharma industry to make generics and become an export powerhouse.


Mercantiles cash in, abuse it, create low effort models and make Indian pharma industry look bad to the world.

And now consumers resort to pseudoscientific AYUSH stuff which does nothing but introduce a slow undetected death in the long run.

/nopunchline

Business-Active-1143

Didn’t gvt relax the penalty for such shitty medicine from jail term to 2lakh fine?

kochapi

Most of the generic drugs are manufactured in Gujrat and that too in shady 1 bhk or godown. Does anyone remember the syrup or drop which led to the death of &lt;100  kids death and Indian government denied charges as they paid Modi in electoral bonds? 
Nothing will happen here also. 
JSR

Mo_h

this is so sad. What's the value of life in India when something as simple as a cough syrup can kill you.

thebaldmaniac

Top-Bend-330

And people say "wE wAnT gEnEriC mEdiCiNes" 

pugilistic_latitude

I have also consume Cough Syrup for a very long time from my childhood but it doesn't harm me

Ill_Nobody_7589

The problem is much deeper &amp; complex. There are three challenges:  
  
1. Poor-enforcement &amp; overall regulatory structure  
2. Commercial Nature of Trade (Pharma incentivises doctors, doctors prescribe it to patients)  
3. Archaic rules, which many of these companies find loopholes around and operate.  
  
I have worked closely on Pharma distribution &amp; back in the day when the Gambia incident was reported, I spent time going to multiple different factories around India. It was quite heartening to see the state of affairs. There are three types of governance through which most of Indian factories are regulated:  
  
1. **Schedule M**: This is the Indian guidelines. Recently redone, but nothing to solve for enforcement  
2. **WHO-GMP**: Relatively better; however, enforcement needs to be better  
3. **USFDA or EU-GMP**: Much tighter control and monitoring give you a sense, I could walk into a Schedule M factory wearing plain clothes and even be offered the opportunity to taste the cough syrups being made right next to me in a large Pan. On the other hand was EU-GMP, getting into the plant required multiple permissions; I had to change into protective outer clothing every time I entered from one area into another.

Just banning the medicine is not the solution. While the above problem is more prevalent in smaller pharma companies, my challenge with  bigger pharma companies is the ability to flout regulations and put out products in the market. For e.g. a lot of these cough syrups (or cocktails) are not even effective for kids. Just plain honey would do it. But guess what, these continue to be prescribed by the doctors. Good doctors most likely will advise you to simply power through the ailment, but then parents push the doctors &amp; then doctors write the syrups.

The answer to this problem first lies in awareness. Just **DO NOT GIVE COUGH SYRUP to your KID at the drop of a hat. Let your kid power through that cold / cough bout (it is usually self-limiting) and if the issue persists, then speak to your paediatrician.** And if your physician recommends a cough syrup, Do definitely look at the ingredients - a simple google search would tell you a lot about what you are giving to your kid.

Environmental_Meet90

Was it the same which was exported to African countries?

ccr87315

bhubaneswarguy

For those asking which specific cough syrup, the article is written really poorly.

It’s actually a polluted ingredient (Dextromethorphan) made by Kaysons Pharma which is found in many cough syrups that’s responsible for the poisonings. 

Brands include Coldrif, Nextro-DS and some variants of Chericof.

UnsafestSpace

The tragic deaths of at least 16 children in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly due to the contaminated Coldrif cough syrup, have raised serious concerns about the regulatory deficiencies in India's pharmaceutical sector.

Contaminated Cough Syrup Tragedy in India

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