Chennai: Iron tablet overdose- Health, edu dept statements contradictory

The health and education departments have come up with different versions of the events leading up to the death of a 13-year-old girl Udhagamand. Assuming they would get healthy, these kids popped in the pills in one go, he said. "While one kid took 10 pills, another swallowed 20 and yet another 30 pills. The student who died took 70 tablets. The health condition of remaining students is being monitored," the minister said.

Updated On Mar 11, 2023 at 08:13 AM IST

Chennai: The health and education departments have come up with different versions of the events leading up to the death of a 13-year-old girl Udhagamandalam schoolgirl after an overdose of iron tablets.

Health minister Ma Subramanian said in Chennai that the girl, M Jaiba Fatima, had swallowed 70 iron and folic acid tablets on March 3 after a bet with her friends. He also said he did not know why the Urdu middle school run by the Udhagamandalam municipality had distributed the tablets to students on Friday, instead of Thursday.

As part of the national weekly iron and folic acid supplementation programme, school students in Tamil Nadu are given one tablet every Thursday. Since the teacher who usually distributes the tablets wasn't around on March 3, another teacher took the responsibility of distribution.

"Instead of handing one tablet each to a child, the teacher handed out an entire strip," Subramanian said.
Assuming they would get healthy, these kids popped in the pills in one go, he said. "While one kid took 10 pills, another swallowed 20 and yet another 30 pills. The student who died took 70 tablets. The health condition of remaining students is being monitored," the minister said. The two health workers who should have kept tabs on the distribution of the supplements have been suspended.

However, the Nilgiris chief education officer A Muniswamy said Fatima took only 45 pills - three strips of 15 each - according to other students in school. The pills were distributed on Thursday itself and not Friday, he said.

"They weren't given excess strips. On Friday, Fatima, three other girls and two boys sneaked into the HM's room, which is adjacent to their classroom during their break. She grabbed strips of the pills kept in a carton there," Munisawamy said.

Now, Director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam has written to the Directorate of School Education recommending action against the teacher and school authorities for not following protocols.
Meanwhile, chief minister M K Stalin announces ₹3 lakh as solatium to Fatima's family and ₹1 lakh each for the three other girls who are under treatment at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital.