Public sentiment is overwhelmingly angry and disappointed with the government's handling of the contaminated cough syrup scandal, expressing outrage over corruption within the pharmaceutical industry and a lack of accountability. There is a consensus on the need for stricter regulations and deeper investigations, with significant blame directed towards government officials and regulatory bodies, while many feel that doctors are wrongfully scapegoated for the failures of manufacturers and the healthcare system.

Government of India

Sresan Pharmaceuticals

CDSCO

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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

[deleted]

Sir but 73% Reservation is more important

DakuMangalSinghh

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

Orwellisright

Sources and further information available: [https://sayacare.in/blogs/cough-syrup-or-killer-the-madhya-pradesh-rajasthan-tragedy-explained](https://sayacare.in/blogs/cough-syrup-or-killer-the-madhya-pradesh-rajasthan-tragedy-explained)

dhruvg001

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

A tragic incident in India has unfolded with the deaths of at least 24 children linked to the consumption of contaminated cough syrup. Investigations are ongoing, prompting national scrutiny of drug safety standards.

Contaminated Cough Syrup Deaths in India

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