The owner of the Tamil Nadu-based pharmaceuticals company that manufactured the adulterated Coldrif cough syrup linked to dozens of children’s deaths in several states has been detained. A case was earlier filed against Sresan Pharma. Ranganathan, owner of the company, was taken into custody by Madhya Pradesh police in Chennai late last night.
The state police had been searching for him in connection with at least 20 children’s deaths after they consumed the poisonous syrup in the state. A reward of Rs 20,000 was also declared for his arrest.
Besides Madhya Pradesh, some deaths have also been linked to the syrup in Rajasthan. The children suffered kidney infections after consuming the Coldrif syrup.
Coldrif is a drug prescribed to treat symptoms of cold and cough, including runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and watery eyes in children. The syrup samples were declared adulterated by Tamil Nadu authorities earlier this month after being found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG), a poisonous substance used in the manufacture of printing ink and glue that could cause severe kidney, liver, and nervous system damage in humans.
An inspection had found unbilled containers of DEG at Sresan Pharma’s factory and that the company was adding 46-48% of DEG to the Coldrif cough syrup against the permitted limit of only 0.1%. Sresan Pharma also lacked a good manufacturing practices (GMP) certification but continued to manufacture and sell generic drugs.
Following their findings at the pharma factory in Kancheepuram, the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Authority had issued a stop-production order and frozen all its stocks. A show-cause notice was also served, and the company’s license was suspended.
At least nine states have since banned the syrup.
India’s top drug regulator has admitted serious lapses in medicine manufacturing practices, with an advisory stating that inspections at several factories revealed that not every batch of raw materials and active ingredients was being tested by the companies.