It is indeed an unfortunate situation in India that the cough syrups which are banned globally are up for grab in India. The dangerous drug acts a poison on adults and the same is banned for breast feeding mother and their sibling as it contains very high metabolic rates and that is harmful for growing children. The side effects are not foreseen and it may cause death in children. But in India, most of the codeine-containing cough syrup brands do not even carry a label that warns of the potential side effects of the chemical in store. Even the common Corex is harmful and considered a dangerous drug. The doctors should be able to differentiate what is good and what is bad for the patients and thereby reduce the risk to large extent. It is a hopeless situation as we find ourselves facing death from the hands of the life saving doctors and the medicine prescribed by them.
C.K. Ramani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
