Rajasthan News: 5-Year-Old Dies, Several Children Fall Ill After Consuming Govt-Supplied Cough Syrup

Jaipur: A five-year-old child allegedly died in Sikar, while a few got ill after consuming a cough syrup supplied under the free medicines scheme of the Rajasthan government. The state government has stopped the supply of the concerned batch of the syrup.

The case of a child's death has been reported in Sikar, while two children fell ill in Bharatpur, and a two-year-old girl had to be admitted to the ICU of a private hospital in Jaipur after allegedly consuming the syrup.

As per reports, the child, Nitish of Khori Brahmanan village in Sikar district, was down with a cold and cough for a few days. His mother brought him medicine, including this syrup supplied under the free medicines scheme from the community health center of Chirana. But after consuming the syrup, Nitish’s condition worsened, and he was declared brought dead at the local hospital. The family refused to conduct a postmortem and took the body after informing the police in writing.

ASI Rohitas Kumar Jangid said that Mukesh Sharma's son, Nitish, was given cough medicine from Chirana CHC on Sunday evening. His condition worsened at night, and he died on Monday morning while being taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, following complaints of cough syrup causing vomiting, drowsiness, anxiety, dizziness, restlessness, and unconsciousness in Bharatpur and Sikar, the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSCL) has banned the distribution and use of a batch of syrup. Additionally, the Drug Controller General of Rajasthan has been directed to take statutory samples of the batches and conduct quality testing at the State Drug Testing Laboratory.

Gayatri Rathore, principal secretary of the Medical and Health Department, said that a statutory sample of the syrup has been taken through the concerned drug control officer and sent for quality testing. She added that upon receiving the quality test report from the State Drug Testing Laboratory, the corporation will take further action as per the regulations. Furthermore, the corporation has banned the use of 19 other batches of the said drug supplied by the concerned supplier with immediate effect.