NEW DELHI/GENEVA: Following the tragic deaths of several children in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly linked to contaminated coldrif cough syrup, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a global alert identifying three specific Indian-made oral liquid medicines as substandard and potentially life-threatening. The move comes as Indian authorities confirmed that the syrups were adulterated with the highly toxic chemical Diethylene Glycol (DEG).
The three products named in the alert are Coldrif (manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical), Respifresh TR (from Rednex Pharmaceuticals), and ReLife (from Shape Pharma).
Sresan Pharmaceutical is a Tamil Nadu-based firm whose manufacturing license was recently fully revoked following uproar over the Coldrif cough syrup. Lab tests had found the use of diethylene glycol (DEG), a chemical historically associated with mass poisoning incidents, in the syrup linked to the deaths of at least 22 children in Madhya Pradesh, mostly residents of Parasia village in Chhindwara.
Earlier on Monday, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) launched extensive raids across seven locations in Chennai, targeting premises linked to Sresan Pharmaceuticals. Sresan Pharmaceuticals owner G Ranganathan was arrested at his apartment in Kodambakkam, Chennai, by a seven-member team from the Madhya Pradesh Police last week. He was later produced before a court in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara, which sent him to 10 days’ police custody.
The agency’s probe is focused on the suspected siphoning of funds, creation of shell companies, and other financial irregularities aimed at laundering illicit profits potentially generated through the sale of substandard or contaminated drugs.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry confirmed that Coldrif contained diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic chemical commonly used in industrial solvents. Even a small amount of DEG can be deadly. The children developed kidney infections after taking Coldrif.
Laboratory tests confirmed that the Coldrif syrup was severely adulterated, containing a lethal amount of the industrial chemical diethylene glycol (DEG). The toxic substance, commonly used in antifreeze, was found at a concentration of 48.6%, which is over 480 times the maximum permissible limit. Ingesting DEG leads to acute kidney failure, the cause of death for the young victims, most of whom were under five years old.
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