Indian authorities have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the company behind a deadly batch of cough syrup linked to the deaths of at least 17 children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
According to police sources, the children — all under the age of five — died over the past month after consuming Coldrif syrup, which laboratory tests revealed contained dangerously high levels of diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical often used in antifreeze. The concentration was reportedly nearly 500 times above the permissible limit.
The syrup, produced by Sresan Pharma, has since been banned in several parts of India following the discovery. The company’s owner, S. Ranganathan, was arrested in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday and is expected to be transferred to Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district for further investigation, officials confirmed.
Under Indian law, pharmaceutical firms are required to test both raw materials and final products before release. However, the tragedy has reignited concerns about lax oversight and weak enforcement within the country’s massive drug manufacturing industry.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the incident as another example of a “regulatory gap” in India’s domestic medicine screening system. The global health body also warned that some contaminated syrups may have been exported unofficially.
In a related development, Indian regulators have advised the public to avoid two additional cough syrups — Respifresh and RELIFE — manufactured by Gujarat-based Shape Pharma and Rednex Pharmaceuticals, after similar toxic substances were detected. Both companies have so far declined to comment.
India, often referred to as the “pharmacy of the world,” ranks as the third-largest producer of pharmaceuticals globally, supplying nearly 40% of generic medicines used in the United States and over 90% of medicines in several African nations.
The latest case adds to growing international scrutiny of India’s drug safety standards, following earlier incidents in Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Cameroon where contaminated syrups were linked to the deaths of children.
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