
Health crisis in Madhya Pradesh - Parents race to hospitals as toxic cough syrup linked to deaths of 23 newborns
"Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital has been overwhelmed by distraught parents after a contaminated cough syrup claimed the lives of 23 newborns and left several others hospitalised in Madhya Pradesh. Footage filmed on Tuesday shows the hospital's wards packed with parents and children awaiting treatment, while others gathered outside the hospital for their turns. The cough syrup, identified as 'Coldrif' was manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, a company based in Tamil Nadu. Laboratory analyses revealed that the medicine was contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic industrial solvent commonly used in antifreeze. The concentration of DEG in the syrup was reportedly found to be 45-48 percent, nearly 500 times the permissible limit. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital stated that they had not previously advised it to be used and continued to caution the public against its use. "As far as cough syrup is concerned, we do not administer it to children below two years of age. For children under five, if there is a dire need, we provide cough syrup under close monitoring," said the hospital's Superintendent, Rahul Mishra. "Any syrup that contains diethylene glycol, which is known to be toxic, is closely monitored. We conduct sampling of all new medicines as they arrive, adhering to the guidelines set forth by the government and the Health Ministry," he added The World Health Organization (WHO) have identified that the affected drugs include specific batches of Coldrif from Sresan Pharmaceuticals, Respifresh TR from Rednex Pharmaceuticals and Relife from Shape Pharma. Local authorities have revoked the Sresan Pharmaceuticals' licenses and banned the medicine's sale. Additionally, police have arrested the manufacturing company's owner. Many states have also enacted bans on this cough syrup, while some have prohibited the use of all cough and cold syrups for children under the age of two."