MP News: Death Of Children Lays Bare State Of Medicines; Sale Of Expiry-Date Medicines And Adulterated Drugs Often Comes To Light

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Substandard cough syrup leading to the death of 16 children in state has laid bare the poor state of medicines in Madhya Pradesh.

Adulterated medicines were distributed at a hospital in Jabalpur. After the distribution of medicines, an inquiry report was received, and their supply was stopped.

The Human Rights Commission is also probing the tragedy. The deaths of 14 children in the Parasia area of Chhindwara and two in Betul have exposed the fact that most of the medicines supplied to the state are not examined.

There are only two laboratories to check the quality of medicines. The laboratory of the Food and Drug Controller Department is in Bhopal.

There is a private laboratory in Indore, which examines medicines, but these two laboratories do not have the capacity to examine all batches of medicine sold in the state. Ergo, it is not possible to check the medicines of every batch.

A case of distribution of expiry-date medicines cropped up at Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Sironj last year, but the hospital management swept the issue under the carpet by serving a notice on the employee responsible for it.

The story did not end. There were reports of supplying expiry-date medicines in districts like Sagar, Indore, Bhind, and Ratlam. The poisonous medicine claiming the lives of many children in Parasia deepened the government s worries.

Now, the government is mulling over making strict provisions for checking medicines.

According to an official of the health department, the substandard cough syrup was not from the government supply. In the government supply system, purchase of medicines is allowed only after proper checking and analysis. The chief medical and health officers have also been told to check each batch of medicines before purchase.

[Story by Staff Reporter]