After cough syrup tragedy, MP hospital under lens over ‘worms’ in medicine

Amid a growing cloud of concern over child health in Madhya Pradesh, a government hospital in Morar town, Gwalior district, is now under scrutiny following allegations of worms in a bottle of Azithromycin antibiotic administered to a child. The disturbing revelation comes in the wake of a series of tragic child deaths linked to toxic cough syrups in the state.

The complaint, lodged by a mother whose child received the medicine, prompted authorities to immediately seal the hospital’s entire stock of Azithromycin oral suspension and dispatch samples to a laboratory in Bhopal for thorough testing. Azithromycin, a generic antibiotic widely used to treat infections in children, is manufactured locally by a Madhya Pradesh-based pharmaceutical company.

“A woman at the government hospital in Morar complained of worms in a bottle of Azithromycin oral suspension,” confirmed drug inspector Anubhuti Sharma.

Though the concerned bottle had been opened, the hospital and regulatory authorities swiftly initiated an investigation. All 306 bottles stored and distributed at the hospital have been recalled and seized as a precautionary measure.

A preliminary inspection of some bottles did not reveal any visible contaminants, yet authorities stress that laboratory analysis is essential to ascertain the safety of the medicine. Selected samples have been sent to Bhopal, with additional testing slated at the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata.

The incident casts a pall over Madhya Pradesh’s pediatric healthcare landscape, coming shortly after the tragic deaths of 24 children in Chhindwara district, reportedly due to renal failure caused by the adulterated Coldrif cough syrup. The severity of the crisis prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue an alert against three substandard oral syrups in India: Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife.

As families reel from these incidents, the Azithromycin complaint underscores ongoing concerns about medicine safety and regulatory oversight, highlighting the urgent need for vigilance to safeguard the youngest and most vulnerable patients.

With PTI inputs