Amid growing concerns over child deaths linked to toxic cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh, a government hospital in Gwalior is facing a complaint over worms reportedly found in a bottle of antibiotic medicine given to a child, media reports said on Thursday.
According to these reports, following a complaint by a woman whose child was administered the medicine, the entire stock of Azithromycin oral suspension at the government hospital in Morar town has been sealed, and samples have been sent to a laboratory in Bhopal for testing.
Azithromycin is commonly prescribed to children for various infections. The medicine in question was reportedly a generic version manufactured by a Madhya Pradesh-based company.
A drug inspector, Anubhuti Sharma, told media that “a woman at the government hospital in Morar complained of worms in a bottle of Azithromycin oral suspension.” Although the bottle brought in by the complainant was already opened, the matter was investigated immediately.
All 306 bottles stored and distributed at the hospital have been recalled and seized, the reports added. Preliminary inspections of some bottles did not reveal signs of insects, but testing is being conducted to confirm safety. Some bottles have been sent to a laboratory in Bhopal, while a sample will also be sent to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata.
This incident comes after 24 children in Chhindwara district reportedly died due to suspected renal failure after consuming adulterated Coldrif cough syrup. The tragedy had earlier prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue an alert against three “substandard” oral cough syrups identified in India—Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife.
