After cough syrup, MP hospital faces complaint over ‘worms’ in medicine

Amid growing concerns following child deaths linked to a toxic cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh, a government hospital in Gwalior faced a complaint over worms allegedly found in a bottle of antibiotic medicine given to a child, officials reportedly stated on Thursday.Following the complaint by a woman whose child had received the medicine, the entire stock of Azithromycin oral suspension at the government hospital in Morar town, Gwalior district, was sealed, and samples were sent to a laboratory in Bhopal for testing, they added.
Azithromycin oral suspension is commonly administered to children for various infections. Officials said the medicine was generic and manufactured by a Madhya Pradesh-based company.Drug inspector Anubhuti Sharma stated, “A woman at the government hospital in Morar complained of worms in a bottle of Azithromycin oral suspension.” Although the bottle brought in was open, the hospital immediately launched an investigation. All 306 bottles of this medicine, which had been distributed and stored at the hospital, were recalled and seized, she added.A preliminary inspection of some bottles revealed no visible signs of insects, but laboratory testing was deemed necessary. Some bottles were sent to a laboratory in Bhopal, and a sample was also sent to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata, Sharma said.The incident comes after the ColdRif cough syrup tragedy, in which 24 children from Chhindwara district died due to suspected renal failure caused by adulterated syrup. The World Health Organization (WHO) had issued an alert against three substandard oral cough syrups in India  ColdRif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife following the deaths,according to information.