A six-month-old girl tragically passed away in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh after reportedly ingesting an Ayurvedic cough syrup, which has led officials to initiate an investigation, as per police statements released on Friday.
The infant, named Rohi Minote, displayed symptoms of fever and cold earlier this week. Her family opted to buy an Ayurvedic cough syrup from a nearby pharmacy without first consulting a healthcare professional and gave it to her.
After four days, her health deteriorated significantly, prompting her family to take her to the civil hospital, where she was pronounced dead during treatment.
Relatives claimed that the syrup was responsible for her declining condition and accused the hospital staff of negligence. In response to their complaint, the administration has established an inquiry committee consisting of the Drug Inspector, Block Medical Officer, and another official to look into the matter.
“We are awaiting the post-mortem report. Legal actions will follow based on its results,” stated a senior official.
As a precautionary step, the pharmacy from which the syrup was obtained has been temporarily shut down.
This incident has raised significant public concern in Chhindwara district, particularly following a previous case involving an allegedly toxic cough syrup that resulted in the deaths of 24 children, primarily those under five years old. Earlier this week, Madhya Pradesh Police took into custody a medical representative from Sresan Pharma, the maker of the ‘contaminated’ Coldrif syrup linked to these fatalities.
The Tamil Nadu government has revoked the manufacturing license of the company located in the southern state.
So far, police have arrested six individuals connected to the case, including G Ranganathan, the owner of Sresan Pharma, and Dr. Praveen Soni from Chhindwara, who is accused of prescribing the syrup to children. Others detained include chemist K Maheshwari, wholesaler Rajesh Soni, and pharmacy staffer Sourabh Jain.
The incident prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue a global alert regarding three ‘substandard’ cough syrups produced in India — Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife. In the wake of these deaths, Coldrif has been prohibited in several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, West Bengal, and Delhi.