Propylene glycol is a food additive. It is also used as a drug solubilizer, an excipient. It carries flavors in food and beverages, helps retain taste. Diethylene glycol is a chemical used to make polymers and anti-freeze. 9 children died in J&K because it appears that a mfg 1/n

2/n mistook one for the other. This is a long thread, please bear with me.

The death of 9 children is printed on page 10 of a national newspaper. What does it say about us I wonder?

But I digress, if you read the piece carefully, you will see that the switch/contamination

3/n was detected by a lab at PGIMER. What was our drug regulatory system doing, should we ask? PGIMER’s results have NO legal standing, test results from RDTL do.

This thread is a plea to all health reporters @PrabhaRaghavan @Teensthack @AnooBhu @PriyankaPulla @ChandnaHimani

4/n @dawalelo @rdivia @RemaNagarajan @singh_jyotsna to investigate because my requests to @CDSCO_INDIA_INF & @MoHFW_INDIA dont seem to make any difference.

We owe it to those 9 innocent lives

5/n This company, Digital Vision appears to have a long and dodgy history of producing NSQ drugs. A simple Google search shows the following results:
(a) CDSCO failures: https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/resources/UploadCDSCOWeb/2018/UploadAlertsFiles/sepdrugalert.pdf

(b) http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/National%20Drug%20Survey%202014-16.pdf (page 318 - 50% of the samples failed);

6/n (c) Karnataka failures: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=89887&sid=1
(d) Rajasthan failures: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=110484&sid=1
(e) J&K recorded failures: https://dfcojk.org/images/NSQ%202015-16.pdf

(f) In addition the XLN database notes failures recorded by states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala:

7/n (f) Cover up in progress - The Tribune is rpting that the HP state drug controller claims that the company is now blaming the supplier of the intermediary ingredients: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal-scrambles-to-recall-cough-coldbest-pc-syrup-43739
Under the law - the company that markets the drug is required to test all batches.

8/n (g) Journalists covering the story must ask the CDSCO and HP how they exactly they are going to execute a nation-wide recall when there are no binding rules on recall - I have asked for binding rules to be made on this issue in my petition before the Delhi HC;

9/n (h) Those interested in #PublicHealth must demand to know of the action taken by the HP drug licensing authority in each and every one of the cases mentioned above - specifically were criminal complaints filed? Were the factory premises investigated? Were licenses suspended

10/n for each product? Where are the investigation reports for each of those instances? Who were the officers responsible for investigation?

Do we deserve answers to these questions?

I have documented in multiple cases where even after wrongdoing is conclusively established

11/n people who put lives in danger are let off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Health journalists owe it to those 9 kids who died to get to the bottom of this mess.

End of rant. for reading.

One last thing, if the families of these innocent children want to make a serious example of this case, I am willing to do everything in my personal capacity to help. Enough is enough!