MP CM Accuses TN Govt of Non-Cooperation in Cough Syrup Case
Mr. Yadav slammed the Congress for making the cough syrup tragedy an issue, saying that the Opposition party should stage demonstrations in TN in protest against the non-action by the TN government against the pharmaceutical companies producing substandard drugs
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday accused the Tamil Nadu government of non-cooperation in taking action in the case relating to manufacture of alleged spurious cough syrup which caused the death of 24 children in MP so far.
Talking to the local media after visiting the children undergoing treatment for kidney ailment in the hospital in Nagpur in Maharashtra, Mr. Yadav said that the special investigation team (SIT), constituted by the Madhya Pradesh government to probe the incident, raided the TN-based pharmaceutical company, which manufactured the alleged killer cough syrup, Coldrif, (and arrested its promoter) on Thursday.
“But we are not getting cooperation from the Tamil Nadu government the way we should get in the matter. A drug (cough syrup Coldrif) of non-standard quality was being manufactured by the pharmaceutical company. But still its licence has been renewed. The TN government has failed to fix accountability on its drug controller for this”, he lamented.
Mr. Yadav said that regardless of where the pharmaceutical companies are located, the ultimate responsibility of medicines lies with them.
“However, we still took a random sample from our locality. When a fault was noticed, we removed the drug controller and suspended the assistant. Action was taken against the doctor who was found to be prescribing the particular cough syrup”, he said.
He said that it has been found that the deaths of the children were caused due to the consumption of low standard cough syrup.
Mr. Yadav slammed the Congress for making the cough syrup tragedy an issue, saying that the Opposition party should stage demonstrations in TN in protest against the non-action by the TN government against the pharmaceutical companies producing substandard drugs.
He also slammed the proposed visit of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh to visit the families of the deceased children, saying that the Congress leader should instead visit Tamil Nadu to mount pressure on the Stalin government to take action against such pharmaceutical companies.
“We (Madhya Pradesh) are the victim party. Instead of visiting Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Gandhi should go to TN (to highlight the issue of manufacture of spurious drugs)”, he added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the cough syrup tragedy in Madhya Pradesh has increased to 24.
