A bottle of the ‘Coldrif’ cough syrup, manufactured by Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals, that has allegedly caused nearly two dozen deaths in southern Madhya Pradesh since September, 2025.
| Photo Credit: A.M. Faruqui
A five-month-old girl died in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district allegedly after consuming Ayurvedic medicines, including a cough syrup, officials said on Friday, adding that samples have been sent for testing.
The incident comes amid the deaths of 25 children over the past two months in Chhindwara and neighbouring districts due to renal failure linked to ‘Coldrif’, an allopathic cough syrup found adulterated with a toxic industrial solvent.
In the Coldrif syrup case, the police have so far arrested six persons, including G. Ranganathan, proprietor of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the syrup, and Dr. Praveen Soni, a local paediatrician who had prescribed it to several of the victims.
According to officials, the infant, identified as Ruhi Minote, a resident of the Bichhua area in Chaurai subdivision, had been suffering from cold and cough. She passed away on Thursday, following which her father lodged a complaint at the local police station, alleging that the medicines had caused her death.
Chhindwara Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Naresh Gonnade told The Hindu that the child’s father had purchased an Ayurvedic cough syrup and a medicinal powder from a local pharmacy and had been administering them for two days.
“The medicine had not been prescribed by a doctor and the father had bought it over the counter. We are currently probing if the store owner himself gave these medicines or if the father had specifically asked for them,” he said, adding that an FIR has been registered at the Bichhua police station.
Dr. Gonnade said that after the incident, the medicines were seized from the girl’s family, the pharmacy was sealed, and the drugs control department had sent the samples for testing.
A post-mortem examination has been conducted, and the infant’s viscera samples have also been sent for forensic analysis.
“We have sent all the samples for testing and have taken precautionary measures. At this time, we cannot assume that the death was caused by any medicine. We will have to wait for all the reports,” Dr. Gonnade said.
Chaurai Sub-Divisional Magistrate Prabhat Mishra said that the child did not show any symptoms like vomiting or trouble urinating that were seen in the children who had consumed ‘Coldrif’ syrup.
“The family has not reported any of those symptoms. We have consulted the Block Medical Officer and local doctors and prima facie they think that she had symptoms of pneumonia. It will be confirmed after viscera and other test reports. Her family had not taken her to any doctor and had only bought medicine from the store,” Mr. Mishra said, speaking to The Hindu, while adding that the district administration has been running awareness campaign asking people to avoid buying medicines without a doctor’s prescription.
Published – October 31, 2025 08:52 pm IST
