BHOPAL: Amid the shock and grief over the deaths of over 24 children in Betul and Chhindwara districts, allegedly after consuming a spurious cough syrup, another case has surfaced from the same region barely weeks later. This time, an ayurvedic solution for cough and cold is under the scanner.
A five-month-old girl from the Chhindwara's Bichua area died early Thursday after allegedly being administered an ayurvedic cough syrup bought from a local medical store. The district administration has sealed the shop and begun an investigation. Chhindwara collector Harendra Narayan told TOI that the chief medical and health officer (CMHO) has been instructed to investigate the matter.
"We are yet to get the postmortem report,” the officer said.
According to officials, the infant, Ruhi Minote, daughter of Sandeep Minote of Bichua village, was suffering from a cough and cold. Her family purchased the Ayurvedic medicine from a nearby chemist on Oct 27.
However, hours after being administered the syrup, her condition worsened. The child was rushed to the Community Health Centre around 4.30 am on Thursday, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. Health-department officials, along with the local administration, seized the remaining stock from Kurethe Medical Store and sealed the premises. Samples of the syrup have been collected and sent to a government laboratory for testing.
District authorities said the case will be examined under provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, given the unregulated sale of ayurvedic formulations for infants. Officials also pointed out that instructions had recently been issued to chemists not to sell cough syrups to children below one year of age without explicit medical advice.
The death comes even as Chhindwara remains under national scrutiny following the earlier Coldriff tragedy, in which at least 25 children died after consuming adulterated cough syrups allegedly containing a toxic industrial solvent. The infant’s family has lodged a complaint at Bichua police station, demanding action against those responsible. “We only gave her what the store recommended,” her father said, adding, “Within hours, she stopped breathing.” He added that the girl was taken to the government hospital but there was no doctor to attend to her. Officials said the exact cause of death will be known only after the post-mortem and forensic tests on the seized syrup are complete.