Health Minister: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has urged the central government to ensure rapid nationwide dissemination of information in cases of spurious or adulterated medicines.
Speaking from Channarayapatna in Hassan, in the context of the recent cough syrup incidents reported in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Puducherry, he emphasized the need for a dedicated web portal for real-time information exchange on medicine adulteration—a suggestion he had previously raised with the Union Health Ministry.
He called for strict enforcement of laws related to adulterated medicines and stressed that the central government must implement a system to ensure seamless information sharing between states.
Amid these incidents elsewhere, Karnataka has taken precautionary measures. Minister Rao clarified that substandard cough syrup has not been supplied in the state, and hence no such fatalities have occurred in Karnataka.
As a preventive step, all samples of cough syrup from various manufacturers are being collected and tested. The state Drug Control Department has already been proactive, regularly testing medicines, with Karnataka leading the country in such precautionary measures, the minister noted.
Health authorities have been instructed to release detailed guidelines on cough syrup consumption. Parents are advised to exercise extreme caution when giving cough syrup to children under five years of age and to minimize its use wherever possible.
Minister Rao highlighted that the tragic incidents in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Puducherry were largely due to negligence at the manufacturing level and reiterated that Karnataka remains unaffected.
Also Read: Cough Syrup Scare: Karnataka to issue new safety guidelines after ban in six states
