CDSCO to initiate serious action against Coldrif makers following 14 deaths in MP: Report

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will reportedly direct the Tamil Nadu Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take strict action against Chennai-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Coldrif cough syrup, under the most serious offences, following the deaths of 14 children in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district.

Key meeting

ANI quoting sources said the Union health secretary is slated to convene a video conference with principal secretaries, health secretaries, and drug controllers from all states and Union territories to discuss the rational use of cough syrups and drug quality.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh doctor who prescribed toxic cough syrup to children arrested

It was earlier reported that the CDSCO has launched risk-based inspections at the manufacturing units of 19 drugs, including cough syrups and antibiotics, across six states – Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

MP doctor arrested, syrup banned

The children are suspected to have died of renal failure after consuming the cough syrup, which Madhya Pradesh officials said was detected with a highly toxic substance. Dr Praveen Soni, the paediatrician and a government official, who prescribed the cough syrup to children who came to his private clinic in Madhya Pradesh, has been arrested.

States including Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana have banned the sale of Coldriff cough syrup in the wake of the deaths.

At least three similar fatalities have been reported in Rajasthan due to suspected kidney infections.

Also read: Tamil Nadu bans 'Coldrif' cough syrup after 11 child deaths in MP, Rajasthan

Tests underway

Reports say a team, including experts from the National Institute of Virology, Indian Council of Medical Research, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, CDSCO, and AIIMS-Nagpur, is analysing the cough syrup samples to know the cause of the deaths in Madhya Pradesh.

A sample of the syrup, tested by the government drug analyst at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai, was declared "Not of Standard Quality" by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Drug Control, officials said.

However, the sample results of another company supplying cough syrups in Madhya Pradesh, Nextro DS, is pending.

Also read: Centre, states crack down on contaminated drugs after deaths from toxic cough syrup

Nextro DS results pending

"The Nextro DS syrups sample results are still pending, a total of 19 samples were collected that include samples of syrup, antibiotics, antipyretics, and ondansetron, consumed by the Children who fell ill in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh," ANI quoted officials as saying.

"The cough syrup 'Coldrif' tested to have beyond permissible limits of DEG/EG by Tamil Nadu-FDA was also sampled for analysis by Madhya Pradesh, Drug Regulatory Authority, whose final results are still awaited," official sources said.

Both Coldrif and Nextro DS syrups have been banned by Madhya Pradesh along with the sale of other products manufactured by the same companies.