Families allege medicine and doctor ruined lives:Lost children, lost land, slept hungry near hospital drain after deadly cough syrup incident caused immense suffering

“Papa, take me home…” these were the last words of two-year-old Yogita before she took her final breath. But fate had other plans. Despite her family spending ₹13 lakh on her treatment, Yogita lost her life to kidney failure within just two days. The government has announced compensation of ₹4 lakh for the grieving family. However, Yogita’s father, Sushant Thackeray, says that no amount of money can bring his daughter back. Kailash, a farmer from Betul, is also enduring similar pain. To save his son’s life, he mortgaged 3 acres of land for 4.5 lakh rupees. He spent 5 lakh rupees on treatment but could not save his son. Now he is demanding action against the doctor who provided wrong treatment and the pharmaceutical company. The Bhaskar team understood the pain of similar families who lost their children in Chhindwara and Betul due to poisonous cough syrup. Read the report… Doctor arrested-suspended, FIR against company
In the case of the death of 14 children in Parasia of Chhindwara district, the administration has taken major action and registered an FIR against Dr. Praveen Soni and Shresan Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Soni has been arrested. This action, taken on the complaint of the health department, has a provision for punishment ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. The investigation has confirmed 46.2% Diethylene Glycol (DEG) in the cough syrup Coldrif, which is being considered the cause of the children’s deaths. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, Dr. Soni has been suspended. In Betul too, the death of two children is suspected due to a cold drip. Family members say that they also got treatment from Dr. Soni, after which the children’s condition worsened and they died. One child was taken to Nagpur and then to Bhopal but could not be saved. Police are investigating the matter. Yogita’s treatment from Chhindwara to Nagpur
Sushant Thackeray, father of Yogita, a resident of Chhindwara, said that he always got his daughter treated by Dr. Thakur. But this time, when she got a fever on September 8, at 5 PM, finding Dr. Thakur unavailable, they went to Dr. Praveen Soni. After taking the medicine, they came home with their daughter. With the medicine given four times, the fever subsided the next day, September 9, but the daughter vomited green. They again went to Dr. Praveen Soni. After examination, the doctor told Sushant to take his daughter to Nagpur because her kidney had an infection, which could not be treated in Chhindwara. Sushant immediately left for Nagpur with his daughter. Upon reaching Aastha Hospital, whose address Dr. Praveen Soni had provided, it was found that Yogita needed dialysis. They did not have this facility, so Yogita was admitted to Nelson Hospital at 2:00 AM. She was treated there for 22 days, during which 16 dialysis sessions were performed. Spent 13 lakh rupees, but received no help
When the bill at Nelson Hospital in Nagpur exceeded 12 lakh rupees, Sushant appealed to the Chhindwara Collector for help. The Collector asked the CMHO to intervene in the matter. The very next day, the CMHO called Sushant and scolded him, saying that people only remember government hospitals when their financial situation is dire. After this, he talked about taking his daughter to Nagpur Medical Hospital. Sushant reached there with his daughter, but seeing that no special treatment was being given even after being admitted for a day, he took Yogita to Lata Mangeshkar Hospital. Where she remained admitted from October 1 to October 4. During this period, the hospital bill amounted to 1 lakh rupees. On October 4, Yogita lost her battle with death
At 1 PM on October 4, Yogita passed away. Sushant and Shivani lost their first child at the age of just 2 years. Sushant is also financially broken due to her treatment. To help Sushant Thackeray, who was posted as a teacher in a private school, his elder brother broke his FD. Both sisters helped a lot. His friends also came forward. Mumbai’s Ekam Foundation also provided help of one lakh rupees, but they could not save Yogita. Slept near the drain for 22 days, remained hungry
Sushant said that he spent 22 days in the basement of Nelson Hospital with his wife Shivani, father, and some relatives. They spent nights with their family by the drain built to drain dirty water in the basement. As soon as they heard the call, ‘Yogita’s family members, come,’ they would run towards the ward. There was no fixed place for food; sometimes if they brought something packed, everyone would sit down and eat, otherwise, days were spent on an empty stomach. The only hope was that the daughter would get well soon, but that did not happen. On the Chief Minister’s announcement of giving 4 lakh, Sushant says that the government is giving this amount to wash its hands of the matter. 12 to 15 lakh rupees have been spent on the children’s treatment. SDM’s evasive answers regarding post-mortem
A video of Parasia SDM Shubham Kumar Yadav surfaced. In it, a media person is asking him questions about the post-mortem of the deceased children. When asked why the post-mortem was not conducted, SDM Yadav said – Due to their attachment to the children, the parents were not ready for the post-mortem. On this, the media person said – The family of one child has alleged that they were ready for the post-mortem. The administration did not say anything about this. On this, the SDM said – All the children died in Nagpur. In such a situation, it was necessary for the parents to be ready for the post-mortem. After this, he started giving evasive answers. A total of 14 children have died in the district so far
Chhindwara ADM Dhirendra Singh informed that a total of 14 children have died in the district so far. 11 children died in Parasia, 2 in Chhindwara, and 1 in Chourai. Financial assistance has also been approved by the state government for the families. Currently, 8 children are admitted in Nagpur. ADM Singh said – The post-mortem conducted today was done at the request of the family of the deceased child Yogita Thackeray. The family had buried her in Badkui. Father said – Dr. took money, but gave death to the child Kailash Yadav, father of Kabir, a resident of Kalmeshwara village in Betul, repeatedly remembers his son by looking at his photo on his mobile. He has also carefully preserved the bottle of the poisonous cough syrup. He says – the treatment cost 5 lakh rupees in a week. For this, I mortgaged my three acres of land. Dr. Soni also took 20 thousand rupees, but gave death to the child. Because of Coldrif and the doctor, both the child and the land were lost. Health deteriorated due to cold and cough treatment
Actually, Kabir had a cold and cough on August 24. Kailash took him to Dr. Praveen Soni in Parasia. The doctor prescribed three medicines, including Coldrif cough syrup. The syrup was advised to be given 3 ml four times a day. After giving this medicine for four days, the child’s health further deteriorated on August 29. Urination stopped. He started vomiting blood. Seeing his son’s deteriorating condition, Kailash started arranging money for treatment. On August 30, he mortgaged his three acres of land for four and a half lakh rupees to Sitaram Patel, who lived in the same village. Sitaram had told him – return the money and you will get the land back. Kailash says- The doctor had said to give Coldrif syrup four times a day. As the syrup was given, the condition worsened. Urination stopped, blood started coming. When I asked, the doctor got angry. He says that there should be an investigation now. Did the syrup kill my child or was there negligence in treatment?