Police arrest proprietor of drug firm linked to deaths of 21 kids in India

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Indian police have arrested the proprietor of a pharmaceutical firm after a cough syrup made at his plant was linked to the deaths of not less than 21 kids, officers stated on Thursday.

Many of the kids, all aged below 5, died in Madhya Pradesh state over the previous month after they had been prescribed the syrup, which was contaminated with a lethal toxin.

Cough syrups manufactured in India have come below international scrutiny in recent times, with deaths linked to their consumption reported in a number of nations, damaging its fame because the third-largest producer of medication and prescription drugs by quantity.

G. Ranganathan, 75, was arrested early on Thursday morning at his residence in Chennai by police from town and from Madhya Pradesh.

He was charged with culpable murder not amounting to homicide and adulteration of medication, police sources informed AFP and Indian media reported.

The cough syrup, offered below the model identify Coldrif, was manufactured by Sresan Pharma at a unit within the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The Indian well being ministry stated on Saturday checks on samples confirmed they had been contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a poisonous substance utilized in industrial solvents that may be deadly even when ingested in small quantities.

Madhya Pradesh and several other different states have banned the product.

A notice by local drug administration is displayed on the sealed medical clinic of a doctor accused of prescribing cough syrup linked to the deaths of multiple children, in Parasia — A discover by the native drug administration is displayed on the sealed medical clinic of a physician accused of prescribing cough syrup linked to the deaths of a number of kids, in Parasia, in Madhya Pradesh, India, October 9, 2025.

Priyanshu Singh / REUTERS

Indian media reviews stated the World Well being Group had sought clarification from Indian officers about whether or not the poisonous cough syrup had been exported to different nations.

Greater than 70 kids died in Gambia from acute kidney failure after consuming a cough syrup imported from India in 2022.

In Uzbekistan, 68 kids died between 2022 and 2023 after consuming one other contaminated syrup produced in India.

In January 2023, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration partnered with the World Well being Group and different worldwide companions to research the supply of contaminated cough syrups that killed greater than 300 kids in Asia and Africa.

India is the third-largest drug producer by quantity after the U.S. and China, in response to the Reuters information company.