More trouble for doctor accused in Madhya Pradesh cough syrup deaths, police zoom in on ‘family’s pharmacy’

Local authorities have traced and seized approximately 400 cough syrups, of which 200 remain to be traced, with fears that they must already be in circulation.

“The clinic owned by one family member is located on the ground floor of his home adjacent to his clinic. They have not been able to produce proper documentation of the contaminated cough syrup batch. We are probing ties of the local distributor of the cough syrup and Dr Soni’s family to see if there was a link between the two entities,” said a highly-placed source privy to the investigation.

The Office of the Food and Drugs Administration in Chhindwara cancelled the license of Apna Medical Stores located in Parasia following the discovery of “several irregularities”.

Licencing Authority Sharad Kumar Jain said that “an inspection of Apna Medical Stores, Parasia, was conducted on various parameters, during which serious irregularities were found under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945”. The violations allegedly were extensive

“During the inspection, sales records were found incomplete, medicines were being sold in the absence of a registered pharmacist, and sales bills were not produced,” he said.

Despite being issued a show-cause notice by the licencing authority, “the proprietor failed to submit an explanation within the stipulated time”. Consequently, “the license of Apna Medical Stores has been cancelled with immediate effect”, Jain said.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also announced that the government has suspended the Drug Inspector of Chhindwara Gaurav Sharma and Drug Inspector Jabalpur Sharad Kumar Jain. Also suspended was Deputy Director of Food & Drug Administration Shobhit Koshta, while Drug Controller Dinesh Maurya was transferred.

Their role was being probed for not being able to detect the contaminated cough syrup, officials said.

Chief Minister Yadav directed officials to move beyond simply banning the sale of Coldrif syrup, ordering that “the existing stock in shops should be seized.” More unusually, he mandated “a thorough campaign to recover the drug from households of families who have consumed it in Chhindwara and nearby districts.”

The chief minister instructed that “ASHA and USHA workers, along with all government officials and staff, should assist in this operation”. Yadav also ordered that the effectiveness of other drugs sold in the area recently should also be assessed and directed that a campaign will be launched to check whether warnings and precautions on drugs are properly indicated, with “action taken against those who fail to comply.”

Yadav stated that “with the support of organisations including the Indian Academy of Paediatrics and various chemist associations, necessary precautions and awareness measures should be implemented”. He emphasized that steps must be taken to prevent such incidents from recurring.

Officials said meetings were held with private doctors, hospitals and chemists in Chhindwara and Parasia to assess the situation and provide guidance on necessary precautions and that a survey had been initiated to identify affected patients, with “cases requiring further treatment referred to Government Medical College, Nagpur”. The local administration also imposed restrictions on the drug and began inspection of hospitals and chemists, officials said.

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