NEW DELHI: The arrest of a doctor over the death of 14 children from contaminated cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh has ignited nationwide outrage from the medical fraternity.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which represents over 4 lakh doctors in the country, strongly condemned the arrest of Dr Praveen Soni, the physician who prescribed the now-banned Coldrif cough syrup that led to the deaths in Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh.
Demanding immediate action on the actual culprits and adequate compensation for the affected families and the doctor who is a victim of defamation, the IMA on Monday said they are concerned with the “incompetence and inadequacy of the drug regulatory system in the country and mishandling of this unfortunate incident.”
“The onus of the death of these hapless children falls squarely on the manufacturers and the authorities. Intimidation of the medical profession is uncalled for and will be resisted.”
The IMA National President, Dr Dilip Bhanushali and Honorary Secretary General, Dr Sarbari Dutta, said in the given case the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to monitor the concentration of DEG in the alleged cough syrup.
“The response of both the Central and State authorities are creating problems instead of instilling confidence in the minds of the public. IMA is concerned with the incompetence and inadequacy of the drug regulatory system in the country and mishandling of this unfortunate incident,” they added.
“Pharmaceutical-grade glycerin and propylene glycol required for manufacturing cough syrups are expensive. Toxic substances such as industrial-grade DEG and ethylene glycol (EG) are cheaper and visually indistinguishable. If quality control fails at the level of both the manufacturer and the regulator, cough syrups produced by a few companies may end up containing toxic substances capable of causing kidney failure and death in young children,” the statement said.
The MP government arrested Dr Soni, a senior paediatrician, who was posted at a government hospital in Parasia and had his own private clinic, for prescribing the contaminated cough syrup.
The strongly-worded statement from IMA came on a day when the NHRC issued notices to the governments of Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh (UP), asking them to investigate the deaths of children linked to cough syrup consumption. They also directed the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and the Union Health Ministry to probe the supply of spurious drugs.
Many doctors also took to social media to decry the arrest.
Dr Dhruv Chauhan, National Spokesperson of IMA- Junior Doctors’ Network (JDN), said, “Welcome to the New India where a doctor is arrested today not for crime, but for prescribing a cough syrup to heal sick children.”
“His only fault was being unaware that he was supposed to check the quality and approval of syrup which is the work of government and drug authorities who mint money from cheap drug suppliers,” said Dr Chauhan on X.
“The syrup turned out to be poisonous, a tragedy born from the company’s negligence, not the doctor’s intent yet he is behind bars. The government has made him the scapegoat while the real culprits still walk free. When the hands that heal are handcuffed and the ones that profit from death are protected, justice itself is on life support,” he added.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), a national body of resident doctors, said, “FAIMA stands firmly with the doctor arrested in #MP over the cough syrup case. Drs prescribe medicines in good faith based on available formulations, they can’t be held responsible for manufacturing lapses. We demand a fair probe and immediate release,” said Dr Kulpeep Gupta, FAIMA Vice President on X.
Describing the tragedy as “a classical example of legal illiteracy of the officials and the police,” the IMA further said that the arrest of doctor in haste, just after the report of BMO, precisely shows an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the faults of regulatory bodies and the concerned pharmaceutical company.
“The prescribing doctor has no way of knowing whether a medicine is contaminated until adverse outcomes are reported among patients who have taken it. Regulation must therefore be made foolproof to prevent such tragedies,” they added.
The IMA also said that many people purchase cough syrups over the counter without a doctor’s recommendation, which means far more children consume them than medically necessary.
“In most cases, coughs and colds resolve on their own without any syrup. When a doctor does prescribe one it is based on clinical assessment of the child.”
“Approval of the said cough syrup, monitoring of the quality and the content of the same squarely fall within the ambit of the Drugs regulatory system. Once the drug has been approved and made available in the market, a registered medical practitioner is the legitimate authority in prescribing any drug,” they added.
Dr Shailesh Singh, Interventional Cardiologist, also took to X to slam the arrest. “People keep asking “Why don’t doctors prescribe generics?” This is why. If the generic is good quality – great, the patient saves money. If it’s substandard – the doctor who prescribed it gets blamed, shamed, and possibly arrested. No one questions the regulator who approved it. No one questions the authority that allowed its sale. No one questions the committee that handed the supply tender. Everyone walks free – except the one who actually saw the patient. Cheap drugs are good only if they’re also good drugs.”
Another doctor, known as The Skin Doctor on X, said, “Once again, the system is targeting the smallest and most visible link instead of examining institutional failure. How can a doctor be held responsible for a drug that was approved by the authorities, manufactured legally, supplied through government channels, and stocked in licensed pharmacies?.”
“If tomorrow a doctor prescribes a standard medicine like Paracetamol and that batch turns out to be contaminated, will the doctor be blamed for that too? That logic is absurd. Accountability lies with the manufacturer, drug regulators (CDSCO, state FDA), supply authorities, and quality-control systems. Doctors have no role in formulation, testing, or distribution,” he said in the post that has since gone viral.
Another X user, known as The Mood Doctor, said, “I have not seen any pilots get arrested for problem in aeroplanes, I have not seen any driver getting arrested for Problems cars, I have not seen any officer getting arrested for flaw in laws, But I have seen doctor arrested for writing cough syrup. Welcome to NEW India.”
Source: The New Indian Express
