2-year-old dies after consuming expired cough syrup

A 2-year-old toddler died in Mandya district of Karnataka after his mother erroneously gave him expired cough syrup.  According to a national daily, police confirmed that the mother administered the dose of the expired syrup without any medical advice, after the boy’s persistent coughing. 

After consuming the cough syrup, the boy named Dikshit fell unconscious, and his parents rushed him to a nearby government taluk hospital. However, due to unavailability of a doctor at the time who was conducting a post-mortem of a suicide victim, the parents took the kid to a private hospital. 

The doctors in the private hospital refused to admit the child on the grounds that he was dead on arrival. The helpless parents took the child back to the government taluk hospital where the doctor was available. After conducting a number of tests, the government hospital doctor confirmed that the toddler was dead.

According to the same report, the parents blamed the government hospital doctor for the death and accused him of medical negligence. However, the doctor denied the charge and Dr Mohan, the district health officer, also rejected the allegation. Further, he is reported to have said that the concerning issue is that the parents not only kept an expired medicine in the home but also gave the same without any medical advice.  
 

• Toddler's death
• Expired medicine
• Medical negligence
• Government hospital