Chhindwara, Oct 5: Police in Madhya Pradesh have arrested a doctor and filed a case against the manufacturer of Coldrif cough syrup after 14 children died in Chhindwara district due to suspected renal failure linked to the toxic medicine, officials said on Sunday. The state government has banned the sale of the syrup after laboratory tests confirmed it contained a highly poisonous substance.
Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey said the syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, is suspected to have caused the deaths of 11 children in the Parasia area, two in Chhindwara city, and one in Chaurai tehsil. “A case has been registered at Parasia police station against the company and Dr. Praveen Soni, who prescribed the medicine despite its adverse effects being reported for nearly a month,” Pandey told reporters.
A special police team arrested Dr. Soni late Saturday night from Rajpal Chowk in Chhindwara. He was charged with negligence and violation of medical ethics for prescribing the syrup while working at a private clinic despite being a government doctor. The state health department later suspended him from service and attached him to the regional health office in Jabalpur.
According to police, both the doctor and the manufacturer have been booked under Sections 276 (adulteration of drugs) and 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 27A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which carries a sentence of up to life imprisonment for using adulterated drugs leading to death.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the government would ensure strict action against those responsible. “This is a heartbreaking incident. Those guilty will face the harshest punishment,” Yadav said in a statement on Saturday. The government also announced financial assistance of ₹4 lakh for each of the 14 bereaved families.
A laboratory report from Tamil Nadu’s drug control authorities, dated October 2, found that a batch of Coldrif (Batch No. SR-13; Mfg: May 2025; Exp: April 2027) contained 48.6% diethylene glycol—a toxic chemical known to cause kidney failure and death. The report termed the syrup “adulterated and injurious to health.”
Following the findings, Madhya Pradesh’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered an immediate statewide ban on the sale and distribution of Coldrif and instructed all field officers to seize existing stocks. The FDA has also directed that other medicines manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals be temporarily withdrawn from the market pending further testing.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday imposed its own ban on Coldrif after the deaths in Madhya Pradesh and at least three similar fatalities in Rajasthan linked to suspected kidney failure caused by contaminated cough syrup.
Samples from the deceased children have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for further examination, while toxicology tests on the syrup are ongoing. Meanwhile, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated risk-based inspections across 19 pharmaceutical manufacturing units producing cough syrups and antibiotics in six states, the Union health ministry confirmed on Saturday.
Read more: Tamil Nadu Bans ‘Coldrif’ Cough Syrup After Child Deaths in MP, Rajasthan
