Editorial
Worry over spurious drug lingers
The errant not brought to book yet
CHILDREN continue to suffer, even die and yet the company responsible for manufacturing the toxic drug still remains outside the purview of the law. There are not many countries where, even after the death of 25 children, substantive action on the part of the authorities will not be in evidence.
It is a shame that drugs mixed with toxic elements should find access to the market. And it was only the death of the unfortunate children that made the authorities and the country aware of the prevalence of such a despicable situation. With such a high toll of lives in any other civilised country, many heads would have rolled by now unfortunately no one in Bangladesh owns up the moral responsibility for such tragedies.
The latest death occurred on August 7 due to ingestion of paracetamol syrup produced by the said company and purchased on August 26. The unfortunate episode has reinforced public perception that where the issue of public health and wellbeing is concerned the administration is seldom proactive. If that not be the case how come one can get to buy a proscribed drug several days after it was ordered to be withdrawn from the markets?
The unfortunate deaths are not an accident but deliberate murder the company must have known that the chemical they were using to produce the drug was harmful to humans - yet they did not hesitate. And those that were entrusted with the responsibility to exercise oversight, having failed to do so, are equally culpable of the crime the manufacturer has committed.
What is shocking is that the drug administration till last Thursday, several days after the company was sealed off, was still in the process of reaching a decision on filing a case against it. This situation cannot be tolerated. Shortage of manpower is no excuse for one's failure to perform the assigned tasks, particularly when it involves human lives.
Merely sealing of the company is not enough. It has to be ensured that the proscribed drugs do not remain on the shelves, which clearly has not been done. The government should take to task all those responsible for the tragedy, from the manufacturer to the relevant agencies in the loop of the drug administration. Equally importantly, the government ought to make up the manpower shortage, particularly of agencies that are dealing with public health and safety.
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