Cough syrup had harmful chemical DEG, says lab report
11 children had died after consuming the syrup
CHANDIGARH LAB HAS CONFIRMED THAT SAMPLES OF THE SYRUP WERE NOT OF STANDARD QUALITY AND WERE CONTAMINATED WITH DIETHYLENE GLYCOL
CHANDIGARH: The Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory (RDTL), Chandigarh, has confirmed that Coldbest-pc syrup that allegedly caused the death of 11 children in Ramnagar Tehsil of Udhampur district in Jammu was contaminated with chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), officials said.
RDTL is one of the seven national drugs testing laboratories of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation set-up for testing drugs and cosmetics products by directorate general of health services, ministry of health and family welfare.
In January, after 11 children died of an unknown disease within a span of 15 days in Udhampur, a high-level team of experts from the health ministry in Delhi were deputed to reach the affected villages to explore the cause and remedies.
Also, a team of senior doctors from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, had visited Jammu and found that the common factor between the deceased and the ill was the consumption of Coldbest-pc syrup, following which they reported the issue to the central government.
The authorities then raided the stockist of the manufacturing firm, Digital Vision Pharma in Haryana’s Ambala and samples for further testing were sent to government agencies, including RTDL Chandigarh.
Prima-facie report from PGIMER laboratory had also hinted at the presence of DEG, a harmful chemical which can cause renal failure and thus death. NK Ahuja, state drugs controller of Haryana, said, “The RDTL report received by us has confirmed the presence of diethylene and the content for the same is 34.97%. The samples also do not confirm the values of phenylephrine hydrochloride in the syrup.”
In Jammu, the drug was tested only for the values of active ingredients in the Coldbest PC syrup (batch number DL5201), such as paracetamol, chlorpheniramine maleate, phenylephrine hydrochloride by the drug and food control organisation of Jammu and Kashmir, which were of standard quality. The stock-register lists that syrup was supplied to eight chemists in Haryana, five in Jammu and Kashmir, two in Dehradun and Baddi, each, among others.
ONE CHILD STILL UNDER OBSERVATION
In PGIMER, out of the four children, three have been discharged after showing improvement and one is still being treated.
Similarly, at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, a fiveyear-old boy from Patiala has been put on ventilator. His parents have been counselled about the poor prognosis of their child, doctors said.