'Toxic' cough syrup: Death toll reaches 40 as 5 more die in Punjab

Eight patients in Gujranwala hospital are in critical condition.


Web Desk December 29, 2012
Eight patients in Gujranwala hospital are in critical condition. DESIGN: FAIZAN DAWOOD

GUJRANWALA: Five more people died in Gujranwala after drinking the 'poisonous' cough syrup, raising the death toll to 40, Express News reported on Saturday.

According to sources in the Civil Hospital, Gujranwala, more than eight patients are in critical condition.

In November, 17 people died after consuming cough syrup Tyno in Lahore, after which pharmacy stores holding stock of this medicine were sealed and some people were arrested.

All the recent victims reportedly consumed a cough syrup being sold under the name ‘Dextromethorphan’. The substance dextromethorphan has been identified as an active ingredient in Tyno cough syrup.

The Gujranwala City District team, along with the police, had conducted raids in medical stores throughout the city.

Around 8, 765 syrup bottles had been confiscated from 96 medical stores out of a total of 224 which had been raided in the area.

COMMENTS (8)

Maria | 11 years ago | Reply

@Basim Ali Jafri@Ian : Perhaps when you are a little older you can look up dextromethorphan and possible side effects including deaths. While you are at it, reference the number of drug related deaths in the United States including those attributed to dextromethorphan. There are side effects associated with all medications. It is a shame that people in Pakistan have not learned that abuse and misuse of medications takes place all over the world and you can't blame a chemical when people willfully abuse it. Drug warnings are clearly written upn medication bottles. As you point out, illiteracy upon illiteracy!

Khurram Malik | 11 years ago | Reply

The value of human life is so cheap in Pakistan right now that count of 40 even seems a normal number and it seems it is like a usual thing as nothing happened. Anyway if it will happen for an influential person then things seems to be different like in the case of Shahzab Khan who belongs from influential family of Karachi and ET run the headline for that guy otherwise for poor they are bound to dwell into oblivion.

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