The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail applications of Praveen Soni, a government doctor, and his wife in connection with the deaths of at least 26 children who had consumed the contaminated Coldrif cough syrup that he had allegedly prescribed.
A single judge bench of Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal observed that despite being cautioned about the possible harmful effects of the diethylene glycol-contaminated cough syrup, Soni continued prescribing the medicine.
The court was referring to a conversation between Soni and Praveen Khapekar, a Nagpur-based doctor who had warned him that in 1998, 33 children had died in Delhi because of a contaminated cough syrup and that a similar reaction was possible in the present case.
Khapekar had contacted the doctor after being consulted about a child whose condition had worsened after being administered the syrup prescribed by Soni.
The court observed that more than 26 children younger than four years to five years had died after being prescribed the syrup.
The bench further noted that the fixed-dose combination prescribed to the children had been banned as per a government circular on December 18, 2023, and that the drug could not be administered to children under four years of age according to guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Health Services and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
It also recorded the state’s submission that Soni was aware that the children were developing acute kidney injury after consuming the syrup but had continued prescribing it.
The prosecution has alleged that the children with mild cough and fever in parts of Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district were prescribed Coldrif syrup by Soni between September and October.
Most of the medicine was allegedly purchased from a pharmacy owned by his wife.
The children’s condition reportedly worsened after they consumed the syrup and several developed acute kidney failure. Many were taken to hospitals in Nagpur and other cities for treatment, but 26 of them died.
The first death was recorded on September 2.
The Coldrif syrup was manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, a company located in Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram district.
On October 2, the Tamil Nadu director of drugs control found that Coldrif samples were not of standard quality. Three days later, Madhya Pradesh also reported that one sample of Coldrif had 48.6% of diethylene glycol in it.
The permissible limit of diethylene glycol as an impurity is 0.1%. However, drug officials Scroll spoke to said that the chemical is unsafe even in trace amounts and should ideally be completely absent from an ingestible syrup. Its presence is a serious quality compliance issue, the officials said.
In court, the state also alleged that Soni received a commission of 10% for prescribing the syrup.
The High Court observed that granting bail in such a serious and sensitive matter could affect public confidence.
A trial court had denied the doctor bail on October 8, noting that the investigation was incomplete and the allegations were grave.
Soni has been in judicial custody in Chhindwara since his arrest on October 5.
On Tuesday, the High Court denied bail to five others accused in the case, including Soni’s wife.
Following the deaths, the formulation was banned in several states including Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.
The deaths of the children led the World Health Organization to issue a medical alert on October 13 against the use of three cough syrups found to contain diethylene glycol beyond permissible limits, a substance that can cause acute kidney and liver failure.
The alert named specific batches of Coldrif syrup, and Respifresh TR and ReLife, produced by manufacturing companies in Gujarat.
Also read:
How justice was denied to Jammu children killed five years ago by deadly cough syrup
How adulterated cough syrup killed Madhya Pradesh’s children
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