Cough syrup row: MP minister blames TN govt, says its 'grave negligence' led to death of children

Bhopal, Oct 8 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh minister Narendra Shivaji Patel on Wednesday blamed the Tamil Nadu government for the death of 20 children from his state due to kidney infections caused by the consumption of an alleged contaminated cough syrup.

He said the southern state showed "grave negligence" as it was its responsibility to inspect the medicines going out of the state.

Patel also asserted that while the MP government randomly inspects medicines coming into the state, it was "by chance" that this particular stock of cough syrup remained untested.

The Tamil Nadu government has banned the sale of cough syrup 'Coldrif' with effect from October 1 and ordered removal of stocks of the medicine from the market. The syrup responsible for the deaths was manufactured by a company based at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration department, on October 4 declared that the samples of the cough syrups collected from the manufacturing facility in Sunguvarchatram, Kancheepuram, were found to be 'adulterated' following which the company has been instructed to 'halt production' immediately.

Talking to PTI Videos, Patel, who is Madhya Pradesh's Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare, said that since the medicine was manufactured in Tamil Nadu, it was the state's responsibility to issue the licence and inspect the medicine.

"A Certificate of Analysis (COA) certificate is required to be issued for every batch of medicine produced. Where did the Tamil Nadu government go wrong? Whether a COA certificate was issued or not? Which official made the mistake is a matter of investigation. The Tamil Nadu government has shown grave negligence in how such medicines came out of their state," he said.

"We randomly inspect medicines that come into our state. By chance, these medicines were not tested. We seriously inspect medicines manufactured here," he said.

The Tamil Nadu government's negligence is grave, leading to the deaths of children here, he said.

"We are writing to the central government and the state (Tamil Nadu) government to take strict action against the culprits," Patel said.

The Madhya Pradesh government has taken action against the pharma factory owner and the state police were also visiting Tamil Nadu, he said.

Replying to a question, the minister said the government is increasing the number of testing labs in the state, and will also conduct testing in private labs to speed up the process.

Asked about another substandard medicine that originated from a factory in Gujarat, he said, "We are also writing letters to the governments in the states from where the substandard medicines came." On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's likely visit to Chhindwara to meet the family members of the deceased children, Patel said, "The government in Tamil Nadu is running with the support of the Congress. Rahul Gandhi should question his party's alliance partner as to why this (tragedy) happened" "I smell a conspiracy in this if the Congress is politicising this issue," he alleged.

MP Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who handles the health portfolio, has said as many as 20 children have died following consumption of the cough syrup, while five children are in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, talking to PTI Videos, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh blamed the food and drug department, saying its "poor administration" led to the death of the children.

He said it was the duty of the officials to conduct sample survey every month but they failed to do so.

He also accused Shukla of giving a "clean chit" to the Tamil Nadu-based pharmaceutical company even before the investigation was concluded, and sought to know on what basis he did so.

"Firstly, drug controllers and inspectors are responsible for conducting sample surveys every month, but this was not done. Diethylene glycol should not exceed 0.1 per cent in the drug, but it was 48.6 per cent in the syrup. What were the drug inspectors and controllers doing here?" he asked.

"Besides, when information about the incident came to light, how did the Deputy Chief Minister (Rajendra Shukla) give a clean chit on the first day? On what basis did he give a clean chit? This is the biggest mistake. Had the drug inspectors and controllers performed their duties properly and conducted investigations, this incident would not have occurred," the former Madhya Pradesh CM said.

On minister Patel's statement in which he blamed the Tamil Nadu government for the cough syrup tragedy, Singh said, "I am not aware of the Tamil Nadu government. I have been told that permission has to be obtained from the Central government." When asked about the CM Mohan Yadav's statement that the Opposition should not do politics on the issue and come out with positive suggestions, Singh said, "We are not playing any politics. Take action against the culprits. How did the deputy CM give a clean chit? Accept his resignation. If the mistake was committed, what action did you take?" PTI MAS NP