HC dismisses pleas of Pharma firm on Cough Syrup Testing

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has dismissed the pleas of Kala Amb-based Digital Vision pharma company & its partner Parshottam Lal Goyal in connection with the failure of samples of cough & cold medicine named Coldbest PC cough syrup.

A dozen children were killed in Udhampur district of Jammu by drinking the cough syrup. According to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, these children died due to a substance called ethylene glycol, a dye present in the cough syrup.

The petitioners had challenged this year’s orders of Sirmaur chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of March 11 & May 2 in the Court. In this case, the CJM allowed the drug inspector to take additional samples of the seized syrup. According to the drug inspector’s application, the Govt analyst found that the dye found in the drug wasn't sufficient for ethylene glycol testing. Therefore, the Court was requested to allow the taking of additional samples.

The magistrate also rejected the objections of the applicants, who pleaded not to send twenty bottles of samples taken on March eleven for testing, but wanted only four bottles, taken on Feb 26, for testing.

Although the magistrate allowed only 4 bottles to be opened for examination, he also made it clear that if the sample was inadequate, another 20 bottles will be tested. The applicants had challenged these orders in the high court through two separate petitions, which justice Vivek Singh Thakur has dismissed. 

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