CHENNAI: Test samples of cough syrups collected from a Chennai-based pharmaceutical firm have been found to be adulterated, an official from the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department said on Saturday.
The officials have sought an explanation from the Tamil Nadu-based company and instructed it to halt production at its facility near Chennai, the official added.
The development comes after the Tamil Nadu government banned the sale of the cough syrup Coldrif and ordered the immediate removal of existing stocks from the market.
The action follows suspicions linking the deaths of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to the consumption of this syrup.
Effective from 1 October, the sale of the syrup manufactured by the company has been prohibited throughout Tamil Nadu, the official said.
A team from the Food Safety and Drug Administration conducted an inspection at the company’s manufacturing unit in Sunguvarchatram, located in the neighbouring Kancheepuram district, last week and collected product samples.
Asked about the outcome of the tests, the official told PTI: “Test samples have been found adulterated. We have sought an explanation from the manufacturer. Until further orders, production at the facility will be suspended.”
“Until the company provides a satisfactory explanation, production at the factory will remain halted,” he reiterated.
According to the official, the syrup had been supplied to states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Friday alleged that the mixing of a ‘brake oil solvent’ in the cough syrup led to the deaths of children suffering from suspected kidney ailments in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district since 7 September.
The death toll in Madhya Pradesh has risen to nine, while media reports indicate two infant deaths in Rajasthan.