Cough syrup-linked deaths: Congress slams Modi govt, BJP hits back

New Delhi: The alleged role of Indian pharma companies in the deaths of children in Uzbekistan and Gambia has triggred a row between the Congress and ruling BJP. Hours after the Health Ministry of Uzbekistan claimed that 18 children died after allegedly consuming cough syrup, 'Doc-1 Max', manufactured by Noida-based Marion Biotech, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at the government. The opposition party asked the government to stop boasting about India being a pharmacy to the world and take strictest action. Hitting back, the BJP accused it of defaming India in its "hate" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questioned whose interests it was protecting at a time when Indian pharma export had seen a rise post-COVID-19 while China's had seen a "steep fall". 

Taking to twitter, Jairam Ramesh said, "Made in India cough syrups seem to be deadly. First it was the deaths of 70 kids in Gambia & now it is that of 18 children in Uzbekistan. Modi Sarkar must stop boasting about India being a pharmacy to the world & take strictest action."

The BJP launched a counterattack, with its spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asking, "How low will Congress fall to defame India. India has made a big jump in pharma export post-COVID 19 while the pharmaceutical industry in China has seen a fall in its export.

Made in India cough syrups seem to be deadly. First it was the deaths of 70 kids in Gambia & now it is that of 18 children in Uzbekistan. Modi Sarkar must stop boasting about India being a pharmacy to the world & take strictest action.

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 29, 2022

"By making such comments defaming India and hurting its economic interests, whose economic interests the Congress is trying to protect? It should answer."

The BJP's IT department in-charge Amit Malviya said, "The death of children in Gambia had nothing to do with the consumption of cough syrup made in India. That has been clarified by the Gambian authorities and DCGI, both. But blinded in its hate for Modi, Congress continues to deride India and its entrepreneurial spirit. Shameful".

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated a probe in connection with the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan allegedly linked to a cough syrup manufactured by an Indian firm.

Earlier, an Indian pharma company was linked to the death of over 66 children in Gambia. However, the Drugs Controller General of India had claimed the WHO drew a premature link.

The DCGI had said Gambia has informed, according to media, that there has been no direct causal relation established yet between cough syrup consumption and the deaths, and that certain children who had died had not consumed the syrup in question.

(With PTI inputs)