22 children die after taking paracetamol in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Authorities in Bangladesh said on Wednesday they had begun an investigation into the deaths of 22 children who consumed paracetamol syrup, amid fears it may have been mixed with a toxic substance.
    Health minister ABM Ruhul Haq said a medicine factory in the eastern district of Comilla, near where most of the “unusual deaths” had occurred, had been shut down until further notice. “We have formed a probe body, which includes top paediatricians and medicine experts, to find out what actually caused the deaths,” he said.
    One of the country’s leading paediatricians, AR Khan, said the 22 children had died of kidney failure, including 17 at the Dhaka Children’s Hospital where he is based, and the rest at a separate clinic in the capital. All were aged between one and five, he said.
    “All of them hail from Comilla and its neighbouring districts and were brought to the capital when they became ill. All of them died in the past month,” he said. “They showed similar symptoms and their renal systems failed after taking paracetamol syrup.”
    Mizanur Rahman, managing director of Rid Pharmaceuticals, told The Daily Star that soon after getting the orders for sealing, he has withdrawn the paracetamol suspension and vitamin from the market, though he claimed not to use any harmful compound in his products. AGENCIES