A 47-year-old general manager and pharmacist of an Ayurvedic product company died in Chennai after consuming a drug he developed as a cure for coronavirus.
The pharmacist Sivanesan was hospitalised after he ingested the chemical component, according to a report by The New Indian Express. The deceased was working with Chennai-based Sujatha Biotech, a 30-year-old Ayurvedic and herbal products company.
The daily added that Sivanesan was staying with his family in Perundurai in Erode district. During the lockdown, he took permission and came to Chennai. In Chennai, he was staying with Dr Raj Kumar, the owner of Sujatha Biotech at T Nagar.
Both Sivanesan and Raj Kumar were working together to find a cure for coronavirus. It was the first time Sivanesan was trying a new formula with chemicals used in general medicine. His Ayurveda company had never used any chemical in making drugs.
Several other company's staff also used to work with Raj Kumar's and were trying to create a cure.
On May 7, Sivanesan and the team created the drug, which was a solution containing sodium nitrate, for coronavirus. He first gave the drug to Dr Raj Kumar to test. Since Kumar consumed only a small portion of the drug, he first fell unconscious and recovered within ten minutes.
Sivanesan also consumed the solution and fell unconscious. However, he could not be revived. Sivanesan was rushed to a private hospital in T Nagar and declared dead by the doctors there. Later Sivanesan's body was shifted to Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem. Teynampet police registered a case under section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code for unnatural death.
Sujatha Biotech has a plant in Kashipur, Uttarakhand.
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