Pharma company owner arrested over children's deaths linked to Coldrif
What's the story
Ranganathan Govindan, the owner of Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharma, has been arrested by Madhya Pradesh police in Chennai. His arrest comes after at least 20 children died after consuming an adulterated cough syrup named Coldrif. The children developed kidney infections after consuming the toxic syrup. Govindan is now facing charges of adulteration, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and endangering children's safety.
Arrest details
₹20,000 reward announced for his capture
Govindan had been evading arrest since the cough syrup incident, prompting authorities to announce a ₹20,000 reward for his capture. He was finally apprehended in a midnight operation by Madhya Pradesh police around 1:30am on Thursday. The police team had been surveilling his vehicles and residence since October 5, before launching their operation based on specific intelligence inputs.
Toxic ingredient
Coldrif syrup contains toxic substance diethylene glycol (DEG)
Coldrif is used to treat cold and cough symptoms in children. However, Tamil Nadu authorities declared the syrup adulterated after it was found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic substance used in printing ink and glue. DEG can cause severe kidney, liver, and nervous system damage. An inspection at Sresan Pharma's factory revealed unbilled containers of DEG and that they were adding 46-48% of DEG to Coldrif against the permitted limit of only 0.1%.
Regulatory action
Coldrif syrup banned in at least 9 states
Sresan Pharma was also found to be operating without a good manufacturing practices (GMP) certification. Following these findings, the Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Authority issued a stop-production order and froze all stocks of the company. A show-cause notice was served, and their license was suspended. At least nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Puducherry, have since banned Coldrif syrup due to its toxic content.
WHO
WHO seeks clarification
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters that it was seeking clarification from the Indian government on whether the cough syrup had been exported to other nations. It said it would assess the need for a Global Medical Products Alert on Coldrif syrup once it received official confirmation from Indian authorities. India's pharmaceutical industry is worth $50 billion, second in size only to the United States and China. Exports account for more than half of its overall value.