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Cough syrup deaths: Arrested doctor admitted to getting commission from manufacturer, say police
Dr Praveen Soni prescribed the contaminated cough syrup to most of the 23 children who died after consuming it, investigators said.
The doctor arrested in connection with the cough syrup deaths in Madhya Pradesh has admitted to getting a commission for prescribing it, police had told court.
Dr Praveen Soni prescribed the contaminated cough syrup to most of the 23 children who died after consuming it, NDTV quoted investigators as saying.
According to the police, Soni received a 10 per cent commission, amounting to ₹2.54, for every bottle of the Coldrif cough syrup manufactured by Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharmaceuticals that he prescribed.
Police reports submitted before court state that Soni had allegedly admitted to receiving a commission for prescriptions. However, the doctor's lawyer, Pawan Shukla, has called the confession “fabricated and legally worthless”, NDTV reported.
Shukla alleged that the police had to “complete a story”, adding that there was no “direct evidence” against Soni. “They fabricated this narrative and extracted a memorandum that has no evidentiary value. The 10% commission claim is false,” NDTV quoted Shukla as saying.
Soni was a paediatrician posted at the government health centre in Parasia. He allegedly continued to prescribe the Coldrif syrup despite Centre's guidelines prohibiting prescription of fixed-dose combination (FDC) medicines for children below four years of age.
The syrup allegedly contained toxic diethylene glycol far beyond permissible limits. Apart from Soni, Sresan Pharmaceuticals' owner Ranganathan is also under police custody.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday revoked the manufacturing licence of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, and ordered the company to shut down, according to PTI news agency.
The order came after the state's Drug Control Department, during an inspection, found 48.6 per cent of diethylene glycol in the syrup. The officials recorded over 300 critical and major violations, and found that the firm lacked proper good manufacturing practices (GMP) and good laboratory practices (GLP).
A team of Enforcement Directorate officials had also raided the premises of Sresan Pharmaceuticals and some officials in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, according to PTI.
