BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday transferred the state’s drug controller and suspended three officials after 14 children died allegedly after consuming Coldrif cough syrup in Chhindwara district. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited Parasia and met the bereaved families.
The government transferred MP Food and Drugs Administration (MPFDA) controller Dinesh Maurya, while deputy controller Shobhit Kosta and drug inspectors Sharad Jain and Gaurav Sharma were suspended for negligence. The action came even as two of eight children admitted to hospitals in Nagpur remained critical.
Kosta’s suspension order cited his failure to enforce the Centre’s ban on the use of the fixed-dose combination (FDC) of chlorpheniramine maleate and phenylephrine hydrochloride in children below four years. It noted that despite directives from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and a gazette notification dated April 15, 2025, warning labels on marketed drugs were not verified.
The order stated that Kosta’s “serious negligence in discharging duties and failure to ensure proper supervision of drug inspectors” allowed substandard Coldrif syrup to be sold and stocked in Parasia, “causing irreparable damage and tarnishing the department’s image.”
Similarly, inspector Sharad Jain was faulted for failing to enforce guidelines in his Jabalpur jurisdiction, where stockists were found storing the syrup without mandatory warnings. Another Jabalpur inspector, Gaurav Sharma, was suspended for “serious dereliction of duty” in permitting non-compliant storage and distribution.
Police on Monday produced Dr Praveen Soni before a Chhindwara court, which sent him to judicial remand. Soni was arrested on Sunday along with the promoters of Tamil Nadu–based Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Coldrif, for negligence causing death and drug adulteration.
Chhindwara SP Ajay Pandey said an SIT comprising police officers and drug inspectors has been formed to probe the case. “The team has left for Tamil Nadu to inspect Sresan Pharmaceuticals,” he told TOI, adding that investigators are awaiting the autopsy report of a deceased child whose body was exhumed for re-examination with parental consent.
The state government has banned the sale of Coldrif across Madhya Pradesh after tests in Tamil Nadu confirmed the presence of diethylene glycol (DEG) — a toxic industrial solvent known to cause acute kidney failure.
