Cough Syrup Deaths: Health Ministry To Hold Emergency Meeting At 4 PM

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry will convene an emergency video conference at 4:00 pm today, chaired by Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, with Principal Secretaries, Health Secretaries and Drug Controllers from states and Union Territories. The meeting comes in the wake of at least 14 child deaths in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district allegedly linked to a contaminated cough syrup.

Deadly syrup traced to toxic contamination

Laboratory tests by Tamil Nadu’s Food and Drugs Administration revealed that the cough syrup Coldrif, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Tamil Nadu, contained 48.6% diethylene glycol (DEG) — a toxic industrial chemical used in antifreeze and brake fluids. When ingested, DEG can cause acute kidney failure and death.

The Madhya Pradesh government says Coldrif “exceeded permissible limits” of DEG, and that the state’s Drug Regulatory Authority had itself sampled the product. Meanwhile, six other medicine samples (antibiotics, antipyretics, ondansetron) taken from affected children were found free of DEG contamination.

States respond: bans, suspensions, and probes

Madhya Pradesh has banned Coldrif and all products of Sresan Pharmaceuticals statewide, and filed a case against the manufacturer.

In Rajasthan, 19 medicines made by Kaysan Pharma, Jaipur were suspended, and two health officials plus the State Drug Controller were suspended for alleged negligence. The suspensions follow reports of vomiting, dizziness, fainting and drowsiness in children who used dextromethorphan-based syrups.

Tamil Nadu issued an immediate ban on Coldrif, ordered removal of existing stock, inspected the factory in Kancheepuram, and collected further samples.

Kerala suspended the sale and distribution of Coldrif as a precaution, although the specific contaminated batch was not sold there.

Uttarakhand is conducting raids on pharmacies and wholesalers to collect syrups for testing and weed out possibly tainted stock.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has launched risk-based inspections across six states, targeting pharmaceutical units producing cough syrups and related drugs, to detect systemic regulatory lapses.

Doctor arrested

A physician in Chhindwara, Dr. Praveen Soni, was arrested for prescribing Coldrif to multiple children. The Madhya Pradesh government has also lodged a case against Sresan Pharmaceuticals.

Earlier, district officials in Chhindwara had conducted investigations over several weeks, exploring environmental causes (such as contaminated water, vector-borne diseases) before attention turned to drug contamination after most tests returned negative.

In Chhindwara, authorities say they shipped 660 bottles of Coldrif—594 were sold and 66 seized. Sixteen samples were sent for testing, and remaining stocks have been seized.