Guilty to be prosecuted after UK lab report

CM says health authorities responsible for cough syrup deaths.

LAHORE:

Health Director General Nisar Cheema has said dextromethorphan, an ingredient imported from India and used in cough syrups, may have caused recent deaths in Lahore and Gujranwala.

Briefing a meeting to review the deaths caused by cough syrups, he said syrup samples had been sent to a British laboratory to ascertain the cause of deaths.

Chairing the meeting, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the UK laboratory report would be shared with the public.

He stressed the need for adopting preventive measures to avoid such incidents and said health authorities were responsible for the deaths caused by the cough syrups. He said had the health officials discharged their duties diligently after the cough syrup deaths in Lahore, the deaths in Gujranwala could have been avoided.

He said action would be taken against those found guilty in the light of the UK laboratory report. He said every human life was precious and every effort should be made to protect it. He said the Health Department would have to play a more effective role in preventing such incidents. He said an effective mechanism was needed to test the raw materials used in medicine preparation.

The meeting was told that the whole stock of the suspected cough syrups and the materials used in their preparation had been confiscated.

“Investigations into the Tyno-syrup deaths have shown that all those who died were drug addicts who had overdosed,” said a Health Department official.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Special Advisor Khwaja Salman Rafique, the chief secretary, the acting IGP, the health secretary and the Punjab Forensic Science Agency director general attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2013.