‘Been prescribing this cough syrup for 15 years’: Doctor arrested for Madhya Pradesh children’s deaths

The Madhya Pradesh Police filed a criminal case against a government paediatrician and the directors of a Tamil Nadu-based pharmaceutical company after at least 11 children died in Chhindwara district’s Parasia, allegedly after they consumed contaminated cough syrup.

Ahead of his arrest, the doctor defended his conduct, saying he could not imagine the cough syrup was contaminated and that he had been prescribing it for the past 15 years.

The FIR, lodged at Parasia police station on Saturday, named Dr Praveen Soni, a paediatric specialist posted at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in the town, along with the directors of M/s Sresan Pharmaceuticals, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. They have been booked under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 276 (adulteration of drugs), as well as section 27(A) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

The complaint was filed by Dr Ankit Sahlam, Block Medical Officer of the Parasia CHC, who alleged that several children under five years of age, treated for fever and cough by Soni, later developed symptoms of acute kidney failure. According to the FIR, these children were prescribed a locally available cough syrup, which was later found to be contaminated.

Read | For weeks, as children died of cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh’s Parasia, officials probed in the dark

“After taking the prescribed medicine, many children developed urine retention, and medical tests showed elevated levels of serum creatinine and urea, indicating renal failure,” the complaint said. Several of the affected children were referred to hospitals in Nagpur for emergency treatment.

It was alleged that Soni “knowingly produced and administered a dangerous adulterated drug to small children, which was capable of causing death”.

Officials seal Coldrif cough syrup bottles in Chhindwara, MP, on Sunday. (ANI)

Dr Soni’s defence

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Before his arrest, Soni defended himself, saying, “It was a mixed pattern; there were multiple causes, which I thought went from viral infections to high-grade fevers, which caused kidney damage. One could not imagine that the drugs would be toxic. Why would anyone prescribe it (if it is known it was toxic)?”

He further said, “Have all the patients been prescribed the same medication? It is wrong to say that. An anti-cold syrup and other medications are provided for seasonal cold. It is difficult to say how many syrups I have prescribed to patients, but I have been prescribing this cough syrup for the past 15 years.”

He also pointed out that he was not the only doctor who prescribed the cough syrup.

Between August and October, at least 11 children from Chhindwara district died, allegedly after consuming contaminated cough syrup. On Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh government ordered the immediate stoppage of sales and distribution of Coldrif Syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical, after a test report from the Government Analyst at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai said a sample of it was “found to be adulterated, since it contains Diethylene Glycol (48.6% w/v) which is (a) poisonous substance which may render the contents injurious to health.”

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Following the registration of the FIR, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered the immediate suspension of Soni. Commissioner of Public Health and Medical Education, Tarun Rathi, issued suspension orders citing “serious negligence in treating infants during private practice and failure to discharge official duties with full integrity”.

A state government spokesperson said that during his private practice, Soni had “prescribed certain medicines to infants, after consuming which the children developed high fever and difficulty in urination, resulting in adverse effects on their kidneys”.

Police team heading to Tamil Nadu

Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey said a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted to trace the supply chain of the toxic batch and identify accountability at the manufacturing level. “A police team is being sent to Tamil Nadu to investigate the company officials. We are verifying its current licences, distribution network, and the role of its directors,” the officer told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Vikas Kumar Yadav said that 594 bottles of the contaminated cough syrup had been supplied to Chhindwara district. “We have traced most of the stock to Parasia. However, some chemist shops that sold the syrup without proper prescriptions are proving difficult to locate. The Drug Inspector has identified three main stock points from where the seized bottles were distributed,” Yadav said.

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He also said that ASHA workers were deployed at the village level to trace any remaining bottles. “Our priority is to recover all 594 syrup bottles from the market and households before further harm occurs,” Yadav said.

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