Madhya Pradesh bans sale of Coldrif cough syrup after 14 children die; samples contained toxic substance

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday banned the sale of Coldrif cough syrup following the death of 14 children in Chhindwara due to suspected renal failure, with officials stating that samples of the drug were found to contain 48.6 per cent diethylene glycol, a highly toxic substance.

A sample of the syrup, tested by the government drug analyst at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai, was declared "Not of Standard Quality" by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Drug Control, officials said here.

The action by the Madhya Pradesh government came in the wake of the deaths of 14 children in Chhindwara district due to suspected kidney failure. Of these, 10 deaths were reported in Parasia subdivision since September 7, local officials said.

Yogita (2), a resident of Parasia, died at a Nagpur hospital in the morning, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Saurabh Kumar Yadav told PTI.

Six children were undergoing treatment, five in Nagpur and one in Chhindwara, he said, adding that the condition of three children admitted in Nagpur was critical.

Financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh was sanctioned for the kin of the 14 deceased children, officials said.

Of those died, 11 were from Parasia sub division, two from Chhindwara city and one from Chaurai tehsil.

The nine children who died earlier in Parasia were identified as Shivam (9), Vidhi (6), Adnan (6), Usaid (9), Rishika (10), Hetansh (11), Vikas (9), Chanchlesh (8) and Sandhya Bhosom (7).

SDM Yadav said that as a precautionary measure, the local administration had already banned the sale of Coldrif and another cough syrup, 'Nextro-DS', on Monday. The test report for Coldrif arrived on Saturday, while that of Nextro-DS is awaited.

The Tamil Nadu drug control authorities, in their report dated October 2, declared the Coldrif syrup sample (Batch No SR-13; Mfg: May 2025; Exp: April 2027) manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, Kancheepuram, as adulterated because it contained diethylene glycol (48.6% w/v), a poisonous substance "which may render the contents injurious to health." Following the report, the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration issued instructions to stop further sale and distribution of Coldrif statewide and immediately seize any available stock for investigation under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. It also ordered that other products manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals be removed from sale pending testing.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in a post on X, called the deaths "extremely tragic" and said strict action will be taken against those responsible.

"The sale of this syrup has been banned across Madhya Pradesh. A ban is also being imposed on other products of the company that manufactures the syrup," the CM stated.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Friday banned Coldrif following reports of deaths in Madhya Pradesh and at least three similar fatalities in Rajasthan due to suspected kidney infections.

Samples from the affected children have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, while further tests on the syrup's adulteration and contamination are underway.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated risk-based inspection at the manufacturing units of 19 drugs, including cough syrups and antibiotics, across six states, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

A team comprising experts from the National Institute of Virology, the Indian Council of Medical Research, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, CDSCO and AIIMS-Nagpur, among others, are analysing various samples to assess the cause of deaths in and around Chhindwara, it stated.