Bhopal News: After Chhindwara Tragedy, State Drug Laboratories Continue Testing

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Even three months after the Chhindwara cough syrup tragedy jolted the state, drug testing laboratories are continuing to examine medicine samples, including cough syrups, collected from across Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly 25 children had died in October after consuming spurious cough syrup in Chhindwara district. Officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, said that the samples currently being tested cannot now be linked to the Chhindwara incident.

According to officials, samples sent to the FDA drug laboratory in Bhopal were tested, of which only three were found to be of Non-Standard Quality (NSQ). At present, three drug testing laboratories - Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur are operational, while efforts are underway to make the Gwalior-based drug testing lab functional, officials said.

FDA director Dinesh Shrivastava told Free Press that after the Chhindwara tragedy, samples were collected from across the state and testing is still in progress. Samples have been sent from all parts of the state, but they cannot be directly linked to the Chhindwara incident now.

Routine testing is being carried out in the three functional laboratories. The objective is to ensure that there is no repetition of such Chhindwara incident and therefore continuous testing and monitoring is underway, he said.