- 12 hours ago
Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Monday expressed deep concern over the deaths of 16 children linked to the consumption of cough syrup Coldrif. She said the Union Health Ministry has issued an advisory regarding the syrup, while the Kerala Drugs Control Department has banned its sale across the state. The minister clarified that Coldrif is not part of Kerala’s essential drug supply list and is not distributed by KMCL, adding that strict measures are being taken to prevent its sale in private hospitals and pharmacies.
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NewsTranscript
00:00And we'll kickstart this edition with some news just coming in.
00:04The Kerala Health Minister's big remark on cough syrup.
00:08Here the mantra says cough syrup is not advisable for children.
00:12No cough syrup to kids below the age of two is what Veena George has said.
00:16We do have a protocol on the consumption of cough syrup.
00:19It is not advisable to give cough syrup to children below the age of two.
00:24Still this particular incident shows.
00:26Doctors are prescribing cough syrup to children below the age of two
00:29which is unscientific and unacceptable.
00:32Kerala Health Department has decided to issue a notice.
00:35We've asked the drug controller to in fact issue a notice to all pharmacies
00:39and no pharmacy should give medicines to children without a prescription.
00:43Pediatric medicines should not be given without a doctor's prescription
00:47is the important word really.
00:49Coming in from Veena George there.
00:50Listen in to the Kerala Health Minister.
00:52Oh it's quite unfortunate that 14 or 16 children died because of consuming cough syrup.
01:03And the government of India has issued an advisory on the consumption of the cough syrup.
01:10And Kerala has already taken decision.
01:13The trucks controller department, the trucks controller has issued a notice banning the sale of this particular cough syrup called Riff
01:22in all the pharmacies across the state.
01:26I'm going straight across to Pramod Madhav for more details on that big story.
01:30It's tracking very closely a voice of sanity there from the Kerala Health Minister
01:35talking about the fact that to begin with these cough syrups,
01:38whatever cough syrups are there in the market should not be given to children below the age of two.
01:43That's a standard protocol but we've seen those violations.
01:46Haven't we, Pramod?
01:47The hard fact here is that like over-the-counter sale of cough syrup is something that we need to carefully take into consideration.
01:59And even in the state of Tamil Nadu, we got this information on the 1st and 2nd of October itself
02:03because once a communication was handed over to Tamil Nadu,
02:07the Health Minister claimed that immediately the officials went to the place
02:11and they actually took samples from the particular manufacturing unit and they took it for testing.
02:15And this is where shockingly they found out that diethylene glycol, a toxic substance,
02:20was found nearly 48.6% in content of that cough syrup and that was quite shocking.
02:25And immediately the production was halted over there.
02:28A show cost notice has been issued.
02:29Why shouldn't the license for such production be revoked?
02:32And cold drifts has been banned in the state of Tamil Nadu.
02:35In fact, Tamil Nadu has also informed Odisha and Pudicherry where it has been marketed as well.
02:40And right now Kerala has also taken the same step.
02:42Now they have banned it.
02:43And the very important aspect is that just like the Kerala Health Minister claims,
02:47this is a mandatory practice that below two years old,
02:50children are not supposed to be given cough syrup without the consent of the doctors.
02:55Leaving it at that for the moment,
02:56Pramud Madhav getting in those details,
02:58an important step that the Kerala government is now taking
03:01is that they've indicated that medicines given to children will not be given without a prescription,
03:07which is absolutely essential is what Veena George has now said.
03:11The tragic death of 16 children allegedly following consumption of contaminated cough syrup has shaken us.
03:18The horror has sparked nationwide outrage.
03:20A flurry of action is being seen right now.
03:23Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ordering an anxiety probe
03:25and the National Human Rights Commission has stepped in,
03:28issuing notices, seeking a detailed inquiry.
03:31Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has dragged the whip
03:34after 14 children died in the state.
03:38All victims of a single medicine, cold-drift cough syrup.
03:41The state's drug controller, Dinesh Maury, has been transferred.
03:44Two drug inspectors and a deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration have been suspended.
03:49A local doctor has been arrested for negligence.
03:52A special investigation team has been formed to prove the lapses that led to this tragedy.
03:57The Chief Minister who visited Chindwara to meet the families of the victims has said
04:01all those responsible will face strict action,
04:04also urging the opposition not to politicize this tragedy.
04:08Congress mounting a sharp attack, calling it an example of unforgivable negligence
04:13and demanding the Chief Minister should focus on accountability and sack his health minister.
04:18It is a real and unfortunate incident which has happened.
04:23And this has been happening for the last two months.
04:27We have seen two deaths in Rajasthan where the government has reported on this
04:31and unfortunately the green sheet was given to that pharma company.
04:34Now a doctor writes a medicine.
04:37And how far he is responsible whether the medicine is jernated, adulterated?
04:42How can he say that?
04:43We have written a medicine, side effects,
04:45and when this was sent for investigation to Madras this thing,
04:50they found out that the impurity is there and there.
04:55Let them do an independent inquiry.
04:57Go into the left of it and find out, fact-finding, who is responsible.
05:02We have made a direction of the U.P. government and our department
05:06that we will take all the bottles of the cup and syrup.
05:10We will take all the manufacturers, hospitals and all of them.
05:14We will take the saiyu, caesar, and these particular batches.
05:18All the batches, which there are batches, which there are batches.
05:18The batches, which there are many more of the company.
05:20And when the extra batches.
05:21We will take all the methods, we will take we will take the samples,
05:25and test them, so that we can see that there are no exceptions with us.
05:30. . . . . . .
06:00I don't know where I am, but I am saying that if I have given this kind of advice, then I am going to be able to do this.
06:13Our minister is here, eight days later.
06:17Yesterday, he was getting his hands, he was getting into the jungle,
06:23and he was trying to go to the village.
06:25I'm going straight across to Ravish, getting in more details on that story.
06:46Joining us from Chindwana at this point in time, Ravish,
06:49I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:19I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:49I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:51I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:53I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:55I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:57I'm going straight across to Ravish,
07:59I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:01I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:03I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:05I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:07I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:09I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:11I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:13I'm going straight across to Ravish,
08:15Thank you very much.
08:45Thank you very much.
09:15Thank you very much.
09:45Thank you very much.
12:23at that point in time the union government was in denial wasn't it dr.
12:44The fact is that pharmaceutical grade glycerine and propylene glycol required for manufacturing
12:57cough syrups are very expensive. Toxic substances such as industrial grade EEG and ethylene glycol
13:05or EEG are cheaper and then find their way into these medicines is what the IMA here is underscoring.
13:14The IMA has said the prescribing doctor has no way of knowing whether a medicine is contaminated
13:21until adverse outcomes are reported among patients who have taken it.
13:26If the committee if the law says that doctors are responsible throw him behind the back no problem
13:33but you can't do it like this it's a protocol to be followed there's a fact-finding team it has to be
13:38given to a committee of experts which will say he's responsible for this then you can arrest him
13:44or whatever you want to do. In fact the IMA has pointed towards the
13:48Mashelkar report of 2003 which said the problems in the regulatory system in the country were
13:55primarily due to inadequate or weak drug control infrastructure at the state and at the central
14:02level inadequate testing facilities shortage of drug inspectors non-uniformity of enforcement lack of
14:08specially trained carders for specific regulatory areas non-existence of data bank and non-availability
14:16of accurate information. Essentially the problem is with certain batches of the medicines so who's
14:22you know who's to be held accountable here. That medicine stopped watching in Sherwana what has
14:28happened that medicine had been sent to Tamil Nadu for checkup and they found out some of the
14:34ingredients which are not to be given to children. So who is responsible? Please tell us who is responsible?
14:43The body has said that the onus of the death of these hapless children falls
14:57squarely on the manufacturers and the authorities. Intimidation of the medical profession they say
15:03is uncalled for and will be resisted. In New Delhi, Sneha Mordani for India Today Television.
15:09What really should have been relief for a common cold? A cough turned into a silent killer. A bottle
15:17of cough syrup, trusted, bought and given with care to children is now sadly left behind graves
15:23instead of kegels. Families in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are mourning the deaths of their children.
15:29Who killed these babies, these children? Was it negligence? Was it greed? Or was it both?
15:36Who is responsible? While we continue to ask these questions on India Today,
15:40let's take a look at this detailed ground report.
15:43Who would have thought that a bottle of cough syrup could turn killer of kids?
16:13Young lives in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are lost.
16:18The home of 3-year, 11-month-old Usaid is now filled with silence and sorrow.
16:25His father Yasin, an auto-rikshire driver, sold his vehicle to pay for his son's treatment.
16:32Spending over 3.5 lakh rupees, but still unable to save the child's life.
16:38Yasin said that when his son fell ill on August 21st, he took him to a local doctor, as usual,
16:46who prescribed cold rift cough syrup. After taking the syrup, Usaid's condition only worsened.
16:54The child's mother and grandmother
17:24broke down while speaking about his upcoming birthday, where he would have turned 4.
17:30The child's mother and grandmother, he took him to a cycle. He took him to a hand and took him to a hand.
17:38He took him to a hand and took him to a hand.
17:40We all remember, it was very good, nobody would get up and get up.
17:48I remember, I remember, every day, every day.
17:54Do you feel like you were given this house for your help?
17:59Yes, we feel like we were all the same, we were giving slow poison from our hands.
18:03We were giving slow poison every day, every day, every day.
18:06Then there is five-year-old Adnan.
18:16His father runs a small customer service center in Chindwadas, Parasya.
18:22He borrowed money from neighbors and friends but could not save his child.
18:36We don't have a chance to stop our children.
18:41However, we don't have any information yet.
18:43We don't know how the kids have infected with the kidnik kids.
18:46We know that we are getting started by the children's house.
18:53What are the actions of the government?
18:56Today we have the president's president.
18:58The government is still here.
19:00The government is still there.
19:01They also should destroy them.
19:05Shattered families are now seeking justice, asking, who killed our kids?
19:24With Ravish Bal, Bureau Report, India Today.
19:35And we have some news just coming in at this point in time.
19:42From the state of Assam, Himanta Biswaga Sarma's government's heat on Congress's Gaurav Gogoi.
19:48BJP claims Gogoi is damming Pakistan link through, claiming that Assam SIT report is a bombshell there.
19:54Probe on Lok Sabha, Deputy Leader of the Opposition's Pakistan link, MP from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi under this banner here.
20:03Himanta government to make probe report public.
20:06Chief Minister Biswaga Sarma says, damaging and damning revelations.
20:13This is a charge that was made previously with the Himanta Biswaga Sarma government on Gaurav Gogoi.
20:19He's called it laughable and dismissed the charges.
20:22However, right now, an SIT probe is what the government is looking at, with the Chief Minister clearly saying that the reports are the same.
20:30Exposing Gaurav Gogoi's links to Pakistan and his wife's links to Pakistan is what the government is saying.
20:36Damming and damaging is what Gaurav Gogoi has said over the SIT report on Gaurav Gogoi's alleged Pakistan links.
20:45This was an SIT probing the alleged link of MP Gaurav Gogoi and his family with Pakistan.
20:52Gaurav Gogoi said, the report was informally discussed in the State Cabinet meeting held yesterday.
21:00We've informally discussed the report is what he informed.
21:03The SIT has submitted its report to the Chief Minister.
21:06Remember, earlier this year, an SIT was constituted by the Assam government to investigate the anti-India activities of a particular Pakistan national, Ali Thaukir Sheikh.
21:20The Chief Minister had accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth's links with Ali Thaukir Sheikh.
21:28The Chief Minister said, the government is going to be giving out a gist of the SIT pro to make people aware of the actual character of the Congress leader.
21:36I'm quoting Hemanta Biswasar right here.
21:39Anupam is getting in more details.
21:42All this while, it was a political charge and then an SIT was set up.
21:46Talk to us about what you're learning, essentially, from what has the SIT now told the government, given that the report has been submitted.
21:54Anupam.
21:54Well, you know, that special investigation team was constituted by the Cabinet and they were probing the Pakistan link.
22:05And now, Hemanta Biswasarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, has said that the report has been received and it shows a very bad report and says that we will publish it before a larger crowd because the situation at present in Assam following the death of Zubin Garg is not the right time.
22:25So, we will publish the report in a few days, maybe next week.
22:30And according to the Chief Minister, the report is based on several statements recorded by the team and the evidences.
22:39And it shows that a very bad report is coming out and he will only reveal the gist of the report because it's a very long report and only gist will be revealed to a larger crowd.
22:54So, I think it will be a very interesting political development in Assam in coming days.
23:01And a controversy won't be dying down anytime soon, isn't it?
23:04It's been going on for days together.
23:05Anupam, I'm going to leave it at that for the moment.
23:07Thank you for getting in those details.
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