“If medicines are administered on a doctor’s advice and lead to deaths, then accountability rests with the doctor and the govt. But if medicines are brought from outside and given without consulting a doctor or hospital, neither the govt nor doctors can be held responsible,” he said.Khimsar said the number of deaths linked to the case was limited. “There were not many deaths—only 2 to 4 or 5,” he said.He alleged parents administered children the same dose they were taking. “Cough syrups contain chemicals like codeine. These deaths occurred due to overdose, not because the medicine itself was defective,” he said, adding that no death occurred due to the quality of the medicine.The remarks drew protests from opposition benches. Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully challenged Khimsar’s claims and alleged the cough syrup was procured from a company “blacklisted in several places.”Countering Khimsar’s assertion that the same cough syrup had been in use since the Congress regime and prescribed since 2014, Jully said the minister was admitting deaths occurred due to overdose. “The company supplying this medicine is blacklisted at multiple locations. It is possible that the medicine was initially of acceptable quality but later became substandard,” he said.
