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Indian pharmacist dies after drinking botched coronavirus treatment

An Indian pharmacist died and his boss was left hospitalised after the pair drank a chemical concoction they had developed in an effort to treat coronavirus, police said Saturday.

The men worked for a herbal medicine company and were testing their treatment -- a mix of nitric oxide and sodium nitrate -- at a home in southern Chennai city.


K Sivanesan, 47, died on the spot, said local police chief Ashok Kumar.

His colleague Rajkumar was recovering from the poisoning.

Kumar said Sivanesan bought the chemicals from a local market and developed the formula after conducting research on the internet.

There are no approved medicines or vaccines for treating COVID-19, triggering a global race for a new drug for the disease that has killed nearly 300,000 people.

Nearly 60,000 cases have been detected in India, which has imposed a drastic nationwide lockdown in an effort to halt the spread of the disease.

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Sum Retreats women time back

A sudden health crisis made Suminder stop and focus on what women really need during important transitions in life

Suminder Pelaez

Sum Retreats is about giving women their time back, says entrepreneur

Highlights

  • Survived blood clot in brain when daughter was six months old.
  • First retreat limited to eight women in Marbella, Spain, October 2026.
  • No 5am yoga sessions or rigid schedules, includes wine and yacht excursions.
Growing up in a lively south Asian household full of unexpected guests, endless chai, and a belief that hospitality means always offering more, Suminder Pelaez learned early on that connection is built through shared meals and open doors.
Today, that same spirit of welcoming and abundance shapes her new venture, Sum Retreats, a collection of intimate luxury experiences for women navigating midlife.
"My mum and dad have literally been entertaining for as long as I know from when I was a child," Suminder recalls.
"Even if my mum wasn't prepared for guests, she would start cooking. She would start making pakoras or the chai would come out. Everything was always done."

That instinct for hospitality runs deep. But it took a life-threatening health crisis to show Suminder what truly matters. When her daughter was just six months old, Suminder suffered a blood clot in the brain.

"The experience forced everything to stop," she says. The scare became a turning point, reshaping how she thought about time, priorities and what women really need during life's transitional seasons.

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