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TN says MP, Centre didn’t act after they informed about contamination in cough syrup
Tamil Nadu’s tests had found that “the alleged batch was manufactured using non-pharmacopoeial grade Propylene Glycol as an excipient
Tamil Nadu on Thursday said that the Union government and Madhya Pradesh didn’t act after the state had informed them that they had found contamination with toxic substances in the Coldrif cough syrup from samples that were tested. “After Madhya Pradesh wrote to us on October 1, Tamil Nadu immediately investigated, found contamination and informed Madhya Pradesh, Union ministry of health and family welfare, and states of Odisha and Puducherry,” Tamil Nadu’s health minister M Subramanian said. “But, Madhya Pradesh and the Union government left it saying that there was nothing wrong with this medicine (Coldrif). But, we confirmed how much contamination is present in the medicine and we issued a “stop production” order on October 3.”
Tamil Nadu has suspended two of its senior drug officials after the deaths of 21 children were linked to Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, that manufactured Coldrif cough syrup based out of Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district syrup. “Two senior drug inspectors have been suspended for not consistently inspecting such drugs in the last two years,” Subramanian said. “Becuase of our immediate action in finding the contamination, banning the drug and informing other states, we were able to prevent any untoward incidents in other states.”
The health minister’s comments come a day after Madhya Pradesh police arrested G Ranganathan, proprietor and manufacturing chemist of Sresan Phara from his Chennai residence. “After he responds to the police investigation, we will take steps to permanently cancel the license of the pharma company. It has been temporarily suspended,” Subramanian said.
Tamil Nadu’s tests had found that “the alleged batch was manufactured using non-pharmacopoeial grade Propylene Glycol as an excipient, which might have been contaminated with Diethylene Glycol, (DEG) and Ethylene Glycol, which are known nephrotoxic and poisonous substances,” according to a senior drug official.
The Tamil Nadu government has not procured the Coldrif syrup since all government clinics and hospitals procure them from the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC).
On October 7, a showcase notice was issued to Sresan’s proprietor Ranganathan and analytical chemist K Maheswari to answer 16 questions within 5 days. Since the manufacturing unit remains shut and abandoned, it was pasted on their building number 787 door on the Bengaluru highway in Sunguvarchathiram in Kancheepuram.
The showcause notice said that their investigation found that the drug was “Not of Standard Quality and found to be adulterated, since it contains Diethylene Glycol (48.6%) which is a toxic substance and may render the contents injuries to health.”
In the investigation, 39 critical observations and 325 major observations were noticed by the team at the manufacturing unit in which several non-compliances under Schedule M and L1 of the Drugs Rules, 1945 were found.
The government banned sales immediately after receiving an alert from Madhya Pradesh on October 1 so that private entities do not use them. Tamil Nadu also informed states where this drug has been distributed, based on interstate distribution details available at the manufacturing premises, such as Puducherry and Odisha to ban it .
It was after an urgent letter was sent from the Madhya Pradesh State Drug Control Department to the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Department on October 1, inspections, testing of samples began and investigations began. The batch of Coldrif Syrup was manufactured in May 2025 with an expiry date of April 2027.
A “stop production” order issued by the government to the pharmaceutical company on October 3. On October 5, the TN government issued a notice to the pharmaceutical company, asking why their drug license should not be completely cancelled and demanded a response within 10 days.
