Jaipur: A tragic incident has come to light from Rajasthan. Dexamethasone syrup manufactured by a pharmaceutical company for the state government, has reportedly caused the deaths of two children and left at least ten others ill over the past two weeks.
In a shocking turn, a doctor who consumed the syrup to prove it was safe lost consciousness and was found in his car eight hours later.
The incident came to light when a five-year-old boy died hours after being given a dose of the syrup on Monday. Five-year-old Nitish from Sikar district, developed a cough and cold and was taken by his parents to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Chirana on Sunday. The doctor prescribed the cough syrup, which was given from the Centre and Nitish's mother gave it to him around 11.30 PM.
Nitish woke up in the middle of the night at 3 am and hiccupped, after which his mother gave him some water and he went back to sleep and never woke up again.
Nitish's parents rushed him to the government hospital in the morning but he was declared dead.
After news about Nitish came to light, it was also discovered that a two-year-old child who died on 22 September after consuming the cough syrup had likely been a victim of the same cause.
When a 3-year-old boy Gagan Kumar got ill after being given the cough syrup on September 24 and his mother went to the community health centre in-charge, Dr Tarachand Yogi, who had prescribed the syrup, the doctor confidently took a dose of the syrup himself and also gave it to an ambulance driver, to prove that it was safe.
However, the doctor then left for Bharatpur in his car, but felt drowsy, parked on the side of a road and fainted. His panicked family members tracked down his mobile location and found him unconscious in the car eight hours later.
The ambulance driver also faced similar symptoms three hours after being given the syrup.
"We got complaints of children falling ill after consumption of Dexamethasone syrup. Our Drug Inspector took the samples of the syrup from Sikar and Bharatpur. A report on the collected samples will come within the next three days. This syrup should not be given to children below five years of age," Drug Controller Ajay Pathak said speaking to news agency ANI.
Goverment Action
In view of the incident, the Rajasthan government banned 22 batches of the syrup and put a freeze on their distribution.
