Thane : Man held with 108 bottles of banned cough syrup

Police have arrested a man and seized 108 bottles of a banned cough syrup from his possession in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap in Mumbra area on February 2 and spotted three persons with bags in their hands.On seeing the police, two of them ran away while one was caught, Mumbra police station's assistant police inspector Krupali Borse said.

Last month 18 children from Uzbekistan died with acute respiratory disease, have died from taking excessive doses of a cough syrup, Doc-1 Max, manufactured by Marion Biotech, an Indian firm. It was found that deceased children took 2.5-5 ml of the drug at home for 2-7 days, 3-4 times a day, which exceeds the standard dose of the drug for children. All children were given the drug without a doctor’s prescription. Since the main component of the drug is paracetamol, Doc-1 Max syrup was incorrectly used as an anti-cold remedy on the recommendation of the pharmacy sellers and this was the reason for the deterioration of the condition of the patients… preliminary laboratory studies have shown that this series of Doc-1 Max syrup contains ethylene glycol. This substance is toxic and about 1-2 ml/kg of a 95% concentrated solution can cause serious changes in the patient’s health, such as vomiting, fainting, convulsions, cardiovascular problems and acute kidney failure.