Cough syrup recalled from state after nine kids die in J&K

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recalled a particular brand of cough syrup from Meghalaya and seven other states following the death of nine children in Jammu and Kashmir who had reportedly taken the medicine.
Investigations into the deaths of the kids who had taken the Coldbest-PC cough syrup revealed the presence of a poisonous compound, sources said. The syrup Coldbest-PC is produced by Digital Vision Pharmaceuticals based in Himachal Pradesh.
Preliminary investigation into the deaths of the nine children who had been given the syrup prima facie revealed the presence of a poisonous compound called diethylene glycol. This was revealed by Surinder Mohan, Assistant Drugs Controller of the Drug and Food Control Organisation in Jammu and Kashmir.
At present, officials have identified eight states to which batches of the cough syrup had been dispatched, and have issued a recall notice to them.
Besides Meghalaya, notice has been sent to officials in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Tamil Nadu.
But officials from the pharmaceutical company which had manufactured the cough syrup reportedly stated that production has been stopped and all drug control officials have been notified.
Samples of the cough syrup sent for testing revealed the presence of diethylene glycol, a poisonous substance.
At present, Digital Vision’s manufacturing license has been withdrawn and over 5000 units of the syrup are being recalled from all the eight states it had been distributed to.
Authorities have also suspended production at the unit where the syrup was manufactured.
Digital Vision has been pulled up by officials for producing subpar drugs and for failing several quality checks between 2014 and 2019.