Toxic cough syrup case: Tamil Nadu pharma owner arrested after 22 child deaths in Madhya Pradesh

Chennai/Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested G. Ranganathan, the owner of Chennai-based pharmaceutical company Sresan Pharmaceuticals, in connection with the deaths of at least 22 children who consumed a toxic cough syrup branded as Coldrif.

He was detained from his residence in Kodambakkam, Chennai, in the early hours of Thursday and will be taken to Madhya Pradesh for further interrogation.

The arrest marks a major breakthrough in the nationwide investigation into one of India’s most alarming recent drug contamination tragedies. The syrup, manufactured at Sresan’s unit in Sunguvar Chatram, Kanchipuram district, was found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG) — a highly toxic industrial solvent used in paints and inks. Consumption of DEG can cause acute kidney failure, which doctors confirmed as the cause of death in several cases.

Irreversible renal damage

Most of the deceased were children from Chhindwara, Betul, and Pandhurna districts of Madhya Pradesh. They had been prescribed the syrup for routine cough and cold symptoms and fell critically ill within days of use. Despite intensive treatment, many suffered irreversible renal damage. Several other children remain hospitalised in Nagpur, five of them in critical condition.

Following the discovery, the Madhya Pradesh government imposed an immediate ban on Coldrif and ordered the seizure of all stocks. The Union Health Ministry has also instructed other states to halt sales and recall the product. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s Drug Control Department has launched statewide raids to locate and confiscate over 2,000 bottles suspected to still be in circulation.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said the company’s licence, which has been temporarily suspended, will be permanently cancelled within two days. “After further inspection, the pharmaceutical company’s licence will be permanently cancelled,” he said.

Mandatory safety testing procedures ignored?

Authorities are now probing whether the firm falsified quality certificates or ignored mandatory safety testing procedures. The manufacturing unit in Kanchipuram has been sealed, and the case has triggered widespread outrage over lax drug regulation and quality control.

The Madhya Pradesh government has suspended two drug inspectors, a deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration, and transferred the state’s drug controller. The Chief Medical and Health Officer of Chhindwara has also been removed, while a government paediatrician, Dr Praveen Soni, was arrested for alleged negligence — a move that prompted protests from the Indian Medical Association.

Amid the crackdown, the Chhindwara Chemist Association announced an indefinite strike after several shops were sealed and owners served showcause notices. Association president Santosh Chore said the blame lay with manufacturers and testing labs, not local chemists.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has assured that the state will bear all treatment costs for affected children in Nagpur and directed an ongoing recovery drive to collect remaining bottles of the syrup from households.

- with inputs from IANS and ANI