JAIPUR: A five-year-old child died after consuming a cough syrup supplied under the Rajasthan government’s free medicine scheme.
The child, Nitish of Khori Brahmanan village in Sikar district, was unwell and down with cold and cough for a few days. Later, his mother brought him medicine available free of cost at Chirana CHC. But after drinking the cough medicine, Nitish’s condition worsened and he was declared dead at the local hospital.
The family refused to conduct a post-mortem and took the body after informing the police in writing.
However, locals say this is not the first case where drinking this cough syrup has created complications. A few days ago, two children in Ajitgarh area reportedly fell ill after consuming the same medicine.
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 was given water. He died on Monday morning while being taken to the hospital.
Medical Jurist Dr Ranjit Benda said that the family brought the child to the hospital in an unconscious state, where he was declared dead after examination.
According to reports, the child's father runs a hotel in Jharkhand. On receiving information about the incident, he returned to his village. The child's family is currently grieving the death.
It is worth noting that recently, the condition of a three-year-old child, the CHC in charge, and two ambulance drivers in Bayana in Bharatpur district had also deteriorated due to the same syrup.
When the child was given medicine for cough treatment, his heartbeat increased, and he became unconscious. Following a complaint, the CHC in charge and two drivers consumed the medicine to test its reaction. Subsequently, the condition of these three people worsened, and they had to be admitted to the hospital.
Following the incident, a ban was imposed on the distribution of the same batch of the medicine throughout Bharatpur district. Complaints such as vomiting, drowsiness, nervousness, dizziness, restlessness, and unconsciousness have been reported after consuming cough syrup in Bharatpur and Sikar districts.
In response, the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSCL) has banned the sale and use of all 19 batches of the syrup supplied by the manufacturer and sent samples for testing.
These alarming incidents in Sikar and Bharatpur have raised a serious question mark over the cough syrup being supplied under the free medicine scheme in Rajasthan.