The number of children who died in Madhya Pradesh after allegedly consuming a contaminated cough syrup rose to 20, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla said on Tuesday.
At least five children are currently undergoing treatment.
"So far, 20 children from Madhya Pradesh have died while undergoing treatment...Two of them died in the past 24 hours," Shukla said.
The Coldrif syrup, responsible for the deaths, is commonly prescribed to children to treat symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, and fever. The medicine is manufactured by a Chennai-based firm.
Several states have now banned Coldrif after its samples were found to have contained diethylene glycol, a poisonous substance.
The death toll has now gone up to 20 children who have died from contaminated cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh
— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) October 8, 2025
PM Modi, however, has NOT SAID A WORD expressing condolence.
Since the tragedy, here’s what Modi has done:
👉 Made shameless political attacks on Bengal in the middle… pic.twitter.com/7ENwzxZZrD
Shukla said action had been taken for negligence against the company owner, the doctor who gave the prescription, and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials involved.
The state government has directed Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and anganwadi workers to go door-to-door to collect the cough syrup bottles to ensure that none of them remain in use.
The Madhya Pradesh Police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the deaths and filed a case against the drug manufacturer.
On Monday, the state government had suspended two drug inspectors and a deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and transferred the state's drug controller amid an investigation.
Welcome to the New India where a doctor is arrested today not for crime, but for prescribing a cough syrup to heal sick children .
— Dr.Dhruv Chauhan (@DrDhruvchauhan) October 5, 2025
His only fault was being unaware that he was supposed to check the quality and approval of syrup which is the work of govt and drug authorities who… pic.twitter.com/CblxHMRBlO
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has banned the sale and distribution of all medicines manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the deadly cough syrup.
The move follows action taken by the Tamil Nadu Drugs Controller to cancel the company's manufacturing license. Â
The state has also halted the sale of another cough medicine named Respifresh TR (60ml syrup, Batch No. R01GL2523), manufactured by Rednex Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
