Madhya Pradesh doctor arrested after 14 children die of cough syrup prescribed by him | Top 7 updates

Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey, according to news agency PTI, said that a case has been registered at Parasia police station against the manufacturer of the cough syrup, Sresan Pharmaceutical, Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu), and Dr Praveen Soni, who prescribed the syrup and practised at a private clinic, despite being a government doctor.

The doctor has been booked for negligence and prescribing the medicine to children despite noticing its adverse effects on children for nearly a month.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) conducted risk-based inspections at manufacturing units across six states, focusing on 19 drugs, including cough syrups and antibiotics, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday (Oct 4).

Here’s what we know so far in 7 points

1. Dr Soni was arrested by a special team from the Kotwali police on Saturday night, following the registration of an FIR against him. The doctor and Sresan Pharmaceuticals have been booked under Section 276 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which carries a punishment of up to one year in jail. Additionally, they have also been booked under section 27A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which prescribes over 10 years’ imprisonment or life term for using adulterated drugs causing death.

2. In early September, officials noticed that several children aged under five started dying from unexplained health complications. The first death was reported on September 2 when Shivam (4) died. Vidhi (3) died on September 5, followed by Adnan (5) on September 7, Usaid (4) on September 13, Rishika (5) on September 15, and Shreya (2) on September 16. Then, on September 18, after Hitansha (4) died, a message arrived from the Nagpur district administration: the children were dying of kidney failure. The case broke wide open only after another child, Vikas (5), died the same day.

3. On Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh government ordered the immediate stoppage of sales and distribution of a cough syrup after it was allegedly found to contain a substance linked to child deaths in the state’s Chhindwara district.

4. The Office of the Controller, Food and Drugs Administration, Madhya Pradesh, issued an urgent directive on Friday to all drugs inspectors across the state regarding Coldrif Syrup manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical. The order followed laboratory tests conducted in Tamil Nadu that allegedly revealed alarming findings about the medication.

5. According to a test report from the Government Analyst at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai, the syrup was declared Not of Standard Quality after analysis found it contained 48.6 per cent by volume of Diethylene Glycol, a toxic industrial chemical. The report stated the sample 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.”

6. Jabalpur drug inspector Sharad Kumar Jain said that according to their investigation, Kataria Pharmaceuticals had ordered 660 bottles of the syrup from Chennai. “It has come to light during the investigation that a total of 660 bottles were purchased, of which 594 were sold in Chhindwara and 66 were stored, which were recovered during inspection. From these 66 bottles, 16 samples were taken and sent for testing. The remaining 50 bottles were frozen, with instructions issued not to sell them,” Jain said.

7. The deaths in Madhya Pradesh are similar to at least four recent casualties in Rajasthan, where children died allegedly after consuming cough syrup. There, the state has banned the distribution of cough syrups containing Dextromethorphan. It has also banned the distribution of all 19 types of medicines supplied by Kaysons Pharma, the company at the centre of the controversy, until further notice.