One more cough syrup-linked death in MP: Infant dead after having Ayurvedic formulation

A five-month-old girl has died in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh allegedly after consuming an Ayurvedic cough syrup and a medicinal powder, an official said on Friday.

Earlier, 24 children, comprising 21 from Chhindwara, two from Betul and one from Pandhurna, died of renal failure linked to consumption of ‘Coldrif’, an allopathic cough syrup found to contain 48.6 per cent diethylene glycol, a highly poisonous compound.

The latest death, which comes two weeks after the last fatality connected to consumption of ‘Coldrif’, has taken the toll from the use of liquid formulations to 25, the official added.

“Ruhi Minote, who was suffering from cold and cough, died on Thursday. Her family had purchased an Ayurvedic syrup and some medicinal powder from Kuratha Medical Shop four days earlier. The medical shop has been sealed,” Chaurai Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Prabhat Mishra told PTI.

“A case of unnatural death has been registered by police. Samples of the syrup and powder have been sent for testing. The viscera have been sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Jabalpur. We are waiting for the post-mortem report,” the SDM added.

In connection with the deaths linked to ‘Coldrif’, Ranganathan Govindan, owner of Tamil Nadu-based Sresen Pharma that manufactured the cough syrup, was arrested. Chhindwara’s Parasia government paediatrician Dr Praveen Soni, who had allegedly recommended the syrup, was arrested on October 5 and remains in judicial custody.