Patiala boy battles for life at GMCH

My son had cough and a local doctor prescribed Coldbest-pc syrup. Two days later, his condition deteriorated. On February 9, he was admitted at GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh

AVTAR SINGH, father of the boy

CHANDIGARH: A five-year-old boy from Patiala has been battling for life at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh, after having consumed a syrup with ‘poisonous compound’. The doctors said that his parents have been counselled about the poor prognosis of their child.

Avtar Singh, the father of the boy, said that his child had common cough and so they visited a local practitioner on February 7.

“The local doctor prescribed Coldbest PC syrup among other medicines. Two days later, my son’s condition deteriorated following which he was shifted to the hospital in Patiala. However, on February 9, he was admitted at GMCH, Chandigarh,” Avtar said.

Doctors said that the boy was admitted in paediatric emergency at GMCH after he complained of fever, cough and vomiting. He had been taking oral medication (Coldbest-pc) prescribed by a local practitioner, the doctors said.

“His kidneys had also been damaged and he had been put on dialysis. He developed breathing difficulty and remained unconsciousness at the hospital,” the official statement quoting Dr Vishal Guglani, head, department of paediatrics at the hospital said.

He added that the child also suffered from cardiac arrest.

“Currently, the boy has been put on ventilator and had suffered brain injuries. His parents have been counselled about the poor prognosis of their child,” the hospital statement stated.

Earlier, 11 children had died in

Jammu’s Udhampur district and the investigation had revealed the commonality between all of them was that they consumed the same cough syrup, Coldbest PC manufactured by the Digital Vision Pharma.

Doctors had found presence of the toxic compound, diethylene glycol, in the samples of the syrup.

The deaths took place between December 2019 and January 17 in Ramnagar block of Udhampur, wherein the children were hospitalised with acute kidney failure.

“A team from PGI, Chandigarh, had collected 33 drug samples during their visit to Ramnagar district in Udhampur, and they had detected diethylene glycol in Coldbest-pc Syrup,” reads the DCGI’S letter dated February 15.

The letter further states that presence of diethylene glycol in Coldbest-pc Syrup is believed to have caused infant mortality in the reported cases.

Further, a fresh case of diethylene glycol poisoning was also reported on February 15 from Haryana, too.