Thousands of government doctors of Madhya Pradesh registered a protest terming the arrest of a doctor illegal in the case of death of 22 children due to contaminated cough syrup ‘Coldrif’.
Doctors said Dr Praveen Soni has been made a ‘scapegoat’ and action should be taken against the ‘real culprits’. Doctors alleged that the disputed cough syrup contained poisonous industrial solvent. He demanded death penalty for manufacturers of adulterated medicines.
These medical workers, associated with various medical organizations in the state, protested by tying black bands on their arms, but continued their regular work on Friday.
Police have arrested Dr. Praveen Soni from Chhindwara for alleged negligence in the death of children.
Members and office bearers of Progressive Medical Teachers Association of MP (PMTAMP), state units of Medical Officers Association, Medical Offices Medical Education Association, Provincial Contract Medical Officers Association, Employment State Insurance Doctors Association, Medical Officers Home Department and Junior Doctors Association paid tribute to the children who died after drinking Coldrif cough syrup. I kept silence for two minutes.
8,500 doctors across Madhya Pradesh protested against the arrest of Dr. Soni.
Speaking to reporters, PMTAMP President Dr Rakesh Malviya, General Secretary Dr Ashok Thakur and other doctors said that Dr Soni, keeping in mind the economic condition of poor people in tribal areas, gave them this cough syrup as it was cheap, costing around Rs 30 per bottle, whereas medicines of other companies cost more than Rs 100. He said that this cough syrup is being used in Madhya Pradesh for more than 30 years.
Citing the post-mortem report, Dr. Malviya and Dr. Thakur claimed, ‘The authorities should have investigated it before its supply and sale in Madhya Pradesh. It was poisonous and had industrial solvents mixed in it.
Doctors said, ‘What was the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doing? Instead of prosecuting them, a doctor was made a scapegoat. A case was registered against him last Saturday night and he was arrested (on Sunday). He said that the arrest of Dr. Soni is illegal and against the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Jacob Mathew vs. State of Punjab. He said the arrest is contempt of the Supreme Court, which has ordered investigation before registering a criminal case against a doctor.
Dr. Malviya said, ‘Instead of threatening doctors who are not involved in the distribution of adulterated syrup, strict action should be taken against those appointed to investigate and test such poisonous substances.’ He said that a death penalty law should be made for the manufacturers of such poisonous drugs as they play with the lives of children.
Malviya said corruption in the supply of medicines should not be tolerated and there should be a fair investigation into the deaths.
Dr. Malviya and Dr. Thakur said, ‘Dr. We are deeply hurt by the lawsuit being filed against Sony. People will lose faith in doctors. Such actions will demoralize the doctors working in remote areas of the country.
According to Malviya, there are only four drug testing centers in the state – in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior. He informed that only the testing laboratory located in Bhopal is fully functioning. Of the 22 children who died after consuming Coldriff, most were from Chhindwara, while two were from Betul and one from Pandhurna.
Coldrif syrup was found to contain 48.6 percent diethylene glycol, a highly toxic compound. A sample tested at the Government Drug Testing Laboratory located in Chennai was declared ‘not of standard quality (NSQ)’ by the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Directorate.
Following the report, the Madhya Pradesh government banned the sale of this syrup across the state last Saturday. G Ranganathan, owner of Shreesan Pharma, a company that manufactures Coldrif, was arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Madhya Pradesh on October 9. On Friday, a court sent him to 10-day police custody.
