NEW DELHI: Hours after denying that controversial cough syrup Coldrif, which led to deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan did not contain industrial chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), the Union Health Ministry on Saturday made a U-turn and confirmed its presence based on a report of Tamil Nadu’s Food and Drug Administration department.
The Ministry’s earlier denial followed a clearance from the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA), which had then stated that no DEG was found in the syrup.
After the confirmation on Saturday, Tamil Nadu was the first to ban the syrup, followed by MP and Kerala.
Coldrif cough syrup were being manufactured at Sresan Pharma’s Kanchipuram unit. The controversy snowballed after nine children died in MP’s Chindwara district, seven from the cough syrup, while two kids died in Rajasthan. The cough syrup stocks were distributed to Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In a statement, the Union Health Ministry said, “On the request of the MP Govt, Tamil Nadu FDA had taken samples of Coldrif Cough Syrup from the manufacturing premises of M/s Sresan Pharma in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. The results of testing these samples were shared with us late on October 3. They contained DEG beyond the permissible limit.”
The Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department on Friday issued an immediate stop-production order to the manufacturer of Coldrif after the samples were found to be “adulterated with DEG.”