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Drug Given at Mohalla Clinics Caused Death of 3 Children, Govt Says

Drug Given at Mohalla Clinics Caused Death of 3 Children, Govt Says

A view of Lady Hardinge Medical College. Photo: LHMC

Three children lost their lives at a Centre-run hospital after consuming a drug prescribed by doctors at three mohalla clinics, a letter from a government official says.

A mohalla clinic is a neighbourhood-level primary healthcare centre.

On December 7, Dr Sunil Kumar of the Directorate General Health Services (DGHS), under the Union health ministry, asked the Delhi government in a letter to issue notices to stop doctors at these clinics from prescribing the drug dextromethorphan.

His letter was prompted by 16 cases of alleged dextromethorphan poisoning at the Kalawati Saran Hospital, of the Lady Hardinge Medical College, a medical facility run by the Centre. Of these people, three subsequently died. All of them were minors, with one aged three years.

Dr Kumar wrote in his letter that doctors at mohalla clinics had irrationally prescribed dextromethorphan to these children and that that was the cause of their deaths.

“The drug is strictly not recommended for paediatric age children,” the letter read. “The drug was manufactured by Omega Pharmaceuticals and the [Central Drug Standards Control Organisation] investigation report of the drug is enclosed. The matter had already been conveyed to the Drugs Control Department, Delhi Government.”

The letter, a copy of which this reporter has seen, also states that the Union health ministry has suggested that the Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party withdraw dextromethorphan units in the market manufactured by Omega Pharmaceuticals.

Dr Kumar also wrote that the DGHS of Delhi could consider issuing a notice to all dispensaries and mohalla clinics in the national capital to not prescribe dextromethorphan for children younger than four years.

Also read: India’s Drug Testing Has a Big Blind Spot: Officials Rarely Check for Impurities

Dr Sunil Kumar’s December 7 letter. Source: Author provided

The Wire Science’s questions to Delhi DGHS Dr Nutan Mundeja, the Delhi government’s public relations officers and the director of the Lady Hardinge Medical College hadn’t elicited any replies at the time of publishing this article.

Omega Pharmaceuticals is a Belgium-based drug-maker listed as a subsidiary of Perrigo Company PLC, an Irish-American pharmaceutical company.

According to Dr Rajiv Seth, the medical director of Child Health and Development Centre and a former faculty member at AIIMS Delhi, dextromethorphan is easily accessible in medical shops and doesn’t require a medical prescription.

At the same time, he continued, “this drug should not be given to children who are below the age of two. Dextromethorphan is given for relief from dry cough.

He added that while dextromethorphan is seldom life-threatening, it can lead to fatal complications if misused. He also said that consuming dextromethorphan in large quantities could cause drowsiness, severe nausea, vomiting, slowed breathing and restlessness.

“It should not be given randomly to children. The cause of illness needs to be evaluated first.”

Somrita Ghosh is a freelance journalist.

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