Coldrif row: Madhya Pradesh took 2 weeks to raise red flag on cough syrup deaths; doctor's bail rejected

BHOPAL: The first cases of children’s deaths in Madhya Pradesh after consuming cough syrup were reported on September 3, but it was only on September 16 that the administration recognised the severity of the situation and began a survey to check children’s health in Parasia block of Chhindwara district.

The exercise gained pace two days later, after Nagpur hospitals alerted authorities about multiple child deaths due to renal failure . However, medicine samples were collected only after September 26, when a biopsy report from Nagpur’s Government Medical College and Hospital revealed “acute tubular injury” in one of the deceased children.

Officials said during the initial public hearings, the administration came across several similar cases of renal failure among local children. An alert on September 18 from Metropolitan Surveillance Unit , a centralised public health facility to monitor, control and prevent disease outbreaks, further strengthened suspicion, prompting intensified screening. “At that time, the exact reason was not known, but the pattern suggested a possible toxin-induced illness,” said an official.

A team from the state headquarters was sent to Parasia, and biological samples were dispatched to NIV Pune , which ruled out viral infections. The Nagpur biopsy report on September 24 confirmed that the deaths were due to renal failure, though the reason for kidney damage remained uncertain. The rapid progression of symptoms indicated chemical poisoning .

Joint teams from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and MP Food and Drugs Administration collected syrup samples between September 26 and 29. Nineteen medicines used for the affected children were tested. Initial reports on October 1 and 3 found all samples of standard quality, but subsequent tests revealed that Coldrif cough syrup was substandard.


Two more syrups — Respifresh TR and Relife — were also found below standards. Following confirmation from Tamil Nadu that Coldrif contained 48% diethylene glycol (DEG), a highly toxic chemical causing acute kidney failure, a state-wide ban was imposed on October 4.

Bail rejected to doctor who prescribed ‘killer’ syrup
A district court in MP on Wednesday rejected bail to Dr Pravin Soni, the government pediatrician accused of prescribing contaminated cough syrup to children during his private practice.