Bengaluru: Following the death of children after consumption of cough syrup in other parts of the country, the Karnataka health department is on high alert. As a precautionary measure, Food Safety and Drug Administration is collecting and testing cough syrups from various companies in the state.Health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao Monday clarified that the “substandard cough syrups” in question were not distributed in Karnataka. However, as a precautionary measure, other samples are being tested.“The state’s drug control department is already exercising vigilance. Karnataka remains one of the leading states in the country when it comes to testing pharmaceutical drugs,” he said and cautioned parents to be careful while giving any syrup to children under the age of five and to minimise the use of cough syrups altogether.After the Centre issued an advisory on cough syrup last week, the state govt did the same Monday. It said cough syrup should not be prescribed or dispensed to children under 2 years of age, and that it should also be avoided among those in the age group of 2 to 5 years.Food Safety and Drug Administration informed all stakeholders, including medical institutions and drug retailers, to stop sale/purchase and prescription of the two cough syrups flagged by the central govt.Coldrif syrup, manufactured in Tamil Nadu, was linked to 14 deaths in Madhya Pradesh, and Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide syrup IP, manufactured by Kaysons Pharma in Rajasthan, was linked to the death of children in that state. These two syrups have been banned.The advisory said sale of cough syrups with the same drug combinations from these companies should also be stopped. If any such drugs are found, they should be immediately recalled, along with intimation to the jurisdictional assistant drug controller office.Rao urged the Union health ministry to set up a dedicated website for exchange of information if any drug adulteration cases are detected. He felt the Centre must enact stricter laws against drug adulteration and create a mechanism for information sharing between states.
