‘Merely 2-4-5 deaths’: Rajasthan Health Minister downplays cough syrup fatalities, blames ‘careless parents’

He said that the cough syrup for adults has codeine and other different types of chemicals which are not suited for children and hence it led to overdose and that “two of them were co-morbid.”

Singh said: “Not a single death took place because of the medicine, but due to overdose and comorbidity. I can provide the detailed report to the honourable member”. He also claimed that not a single death took place due to prescription by a doctor, adding that these were the same medicines which had been in use during the tenure of the previous Congress government too and wasn’t discontinued during their tenure.

Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said: “The government is not worried. They were careless then, which led to these deaths, and now today the minister casually said that ‘merely’ 2-4-5 deaths have taken place. There shouldn’t be even a single death and the government should be accountable for each and every death”.

He said: “They are giving a clean chit to themselves, saying that the deaths took place due to overdose, without giving the details of the said firm, the batch number, etc.”

Also taking to X, Jully criticised the government in a poetic way. “They have draped shamelessness over themselves like a garment, now they no longer fear any mirror,” he said in his post. “By selling ‘death’ in the marketplace, they have absolved themselves; and the very parents who administered the medicine have now become the criminals.”

Following a spate of deaths among children who were allegedly administered cough syrups for adults, the Rajasthan government had in October last year banned the distribution of cough syrups containing Dextromethorphan. Additionally, the government had banned the distribution of all 19 types of medicines supplied by Kaysons Pharma — the company which was at the centre of the controversy.

In a crackdown, the department had also suspended Drug Controller II, Rajaram Sharma “for influencing the process of determining standards based on the salt content in various medicines”. Officials had said that Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma himself had directed a thorough investigation into the issue.

The government also initiated the process of requiring necessary information to be printed on medicines that may be harmful to children and pregnant women. Additionally, the purchase and supply of medicines used to treat diseases like COPD was to be regulated as well. Under normal circumstances, alternative medicines will be used to treat coughs, Health Department officials had said.