Court Rejects Bail For Doctor Who Prescribed Deadly Cough Syrup To Children In Madhya Pradesh

Praveen Soni, a pediatrician in Parasia. File Image

The Chhindwara district court on Wednesday rejected the bail petition of Dr Pravin Soni, the prime accused in the ongoing investigation into the cough syrup tragedy that claimed the lives of 14 children in Madhya Pradesh.

Dr Soni, a government paediatrician in Chhindwara who also runs a private clinic in Parasia, was arrested on Sunday after it was found that he had prescribed Coldrif syrup to the affected children.

Following his arrest, Soni was suspended from his government duties.

The Madhya Pradesh government has also registered a case against Shreesan Pharmaceuticals, the Tamil Nadu-based company that manufactured Coldrif.

The syrup was found to contain 48.6 per cent diethylene glycol, a highly toxic substance, and was declared “Not of Standard Quality” by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Drug Control following tests at the Chennai Drug Testing Laboratory.

As a precaution, the sale of Coldrif and another cough syrup, Nextro-DS, has been banned locally. While the test report for Coldrif has confirmed contamination, the results for Nextro-DS are still awaited.

Families of the victims said the children initially exhibited mild cold and fever symptoms in early September.

They were prescribed routine medication, including cough syrups, and appeared to recover.

However, within days, symptoms returned, accompanied by a sudden drop in urine output, eventually developing into severe kidney infections that led to their deaths. Kidney biopsies later confirmed the presence of diethylene glycol contamination.

Addressing the tragedy, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav described the deaths as “extremely tragic” and assured strict action against those responsible.

“The deaths of children in Chhindwara due to Coldrif syrup are extremely tragic. The sale of this syrup has been banned across Madhya Pradesh. A ban is also being imposed on other products from the company that manufactures the syrup,” he wrote on X.

Yadav added that the Tamil Nadu government was asked to test Coldrif, as the manufacturing unit is based in Kanchipuram.

“Strict action has been taken based on the investigation report. A team has also been formed at the state level to investigate this matter. The guilty will not be spared at any cost,” he said.

Following the Madhya Pradesh deaths, other states including Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have also banned the sale of Coldrif. Rajasthan has reported three similar deaths linked to the syrup.