Death toll due to Coldrif cough syrup rises to 20 in Madhya Pradesh

Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 8 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla on Wednesday said that 20 children died so far due to consumption of Coldrif cough syrup in the state while five were undergoing treatment.
Of these 20 children, 17 are from Chhindwara district, two from Betul district, and one is from Pandhurna district.
"20 children have lost their lives in the unfortunate incident from Chhindwara, Betul and Pandhurna districts. The state government is quite strict. The police teams from Chhindwara have reached Chennai and Kanchipuram to arrest the owner of Coldrif manufacturing company and strict action is being taken into the matter," Shukla told reporters.
The Deputy CM further said that he requested the doctors not go on a strike, keep continuing their work and to follow the advisory of the Indian government and ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) not to prescribe any cough syrup to children less than four years old.
Notably, a group of doctors and representatives of Indian Medical Association (IMA) held a protest in Chhindwara district on Tuesday, demanding the release of a government doctor, Praveen Soni, who was recently sent to jail in relation to the death of children due to alleged consumption of cough syrup in the district.
Dr Soni is a government paediatrician at Civil Hospital, Parasia in Chhindwara, who was recently suspended and later faced legal action, resulting in being sent on 14-days judicial custody on Monday.
The IMA representative also warned that if their demands were not met then the doctors would go on indefinite strike from today.
Additionally, Dy CM spoke about meeting the children undergoing treatment in Nagpur stating all possible efforts are being made to save the lives of the children.
"I met five children who are undergoing treatment in Nagpur, two at Government Medical college, two at AIIMS and one in a private hospital and their families. The management and doctors are making all efforts to save the lives of children undergoing treatment," Shukla added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the state government would cover the entire expense of the children undergoing treatment in Nagpur affected by kidney infection caused by cough syrup and a joint team of executive magistrate and doctors were also deployed in Nagpur for health monitoring.
"Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has directed that the state government would bear the entire cost of treatment for nine children suffering from kidney infections caused by cough syrup, who are being treated in various hospitals in Nagpur. A joint team of executive magistrates and doctors has been deployed in Nagpur to ensure proper medical arrangements and continuous monitoring of the affected children," the CMO posted on X.
The team is maintaining constant coordination with the families of the affected children and hospital management to ensure all necessary arrangements for the children's treatment, the CMO added in the post. (ANI)