Editorial
The syrup's lethal sweep continues
What protection the public have against spurious drugs?
THE toxic paracetamol syrup from the already closed down drug company Rid pharmaceuticals has been continuing with its killing spree with impunity. With the death due to renal failure of yet another child after the intake of the poisonous drug at the Dhaka Shishu Hospital, one is wont to think if there is at all any law in the country to bring such spurious drug manufacturers to book. For how is it possible that children are being made to drink the poison, even though the government issued order to withdraw it from the market more than a month ago? Is there no government body to monitor marketing of the poisonous concoction?
Killing of so many children, the latest count being 28, by a drug meant to alleviate suffering is an outrage of the highest order. It was expected by all concerned that the government would be quick to act and deal out harsh punishment to the culprits behind the crime. Unfortunately, nothing like that has happened so far. What further worries us is that the five persons including the owner of the offending pharmaceutical company against whom a Dhaka court issued arrest warrant on August 11 are still at large. It simply boggles the mind to think how the government can allow all these people to evade trial and due punishment after having committed such a grave public health offence.
One may recall here a similar case of ingesting spurious paracetamol syrup in 1992 in which 339 children died. At that time, the government action was limited only to cancelling registration of five drug companies involved in the crime. But nothing was done to punish the perpetrators of the crime, nor were the families of the victims amply compensated for the loss they had to sustain. Sad to say, one finds a similar pattern of conduct on the part of the administration even in the present case of 28 children dying after the intake of the same kind of toxic drug,
The drug administration's or the government's role, for that matter, so far is unacceptable. It must treat the so-called drug manufacturers as nothing short of the most heinous kind of perpetrators and apply the law accordingly to arrange exemplary punishment for them. Though the loss suffered by the families whose children fell victim to the spurious paracetamol syrup is irreparable, they still deserve due compensation.
It is more than high time that the government punished the producer, sellers, and the quacks who prescribe such a banned item and informed the public about their punitive action. The government ought also to take adequate steps to public satisfaction for the protection of our children and the public at large from the vicious grip of spurious drugs.
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