MP CM Mohan Yadav accuses TN govt of inadequate support over cough syrup poisoning deaths of 23 kids

BHOPAL: As the death toll of children from cough syrup poisoning continued to rise in Madhya Pradesh, the states chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav has accused the Tamil Nadu government of not providing adequate support on the issue. According to official sources, the death toll of children at hospitals in Nagpur and Chhindwara stands presently at 23, including 20 from Chhindwara, one from Pandhurna and two from Betul district. In an associated development, Ranganathan, the 75-year-old owner of the Tamil Nadu based pharmaceutical unit, which made the cough syrup, was arrested by the MP Polices SIT team from Chennai on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday and will be brought to Chhindwara soon. The deaths have happened due to manufacturing defects of the concerned cough syrup, which was being made at the factory in TN. So, the timely action and sampling should first have been initiated there. The Congress leaders who are questioning us should better go to Tamil Nadu and question their alliance partners government in that state, as to how the licence of the factory was renewed. How was it operating in a small place, Yadav said after taking stock of the medical treatment of the affected kids in Nagpur in Maharashtra. Amid the possibility of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi going to Chhindwara on October 12 to meet the families who have lost their children, the MP CM dared the former AICC president to go to Tamil Nadu and question his partys alliance partner DMK's government on the issue. How was the drug licence issued to the unit, how come it was renewed, how was it allowed to function from a small place? Rahul Gandhi should go to TN and ask these questions to the state government there. Weve been affected by the defective cough syrup which was made in TN, why dont the Congress and Rahul Gandhi raise the issue with the Tamil Nadu government, Yadav said. Centre slams TNFDA for delaying Sresan Pharma licence cancellation after Coldrif cough syrup kills 20 children Yadav visited the hospitals in Nagpur where kids from Chhindwara, Betul and Pandhurna districts are under life-saving treatment following acute renal failure caused by poisoning of the Coldrif cough syrup manufactured at Sresan Pharmaceuticals in TNs Kancheepuram district. Weve already acted against our drug controller and inspectors for failing to perform random sampling of the syrups samples. Action has also been initiated against the doctor who particularly prescribed Coldrif cough syrup, which was sold through the medicine store run in his wifes name. Our police have arrested the owner of the drug manufacturing company in TN, were not going to spare anyone in the matter, the MP CM said. Meanwhile, in a briefing about the arrest of Ranganathan from Chennai, the Chhindwara district police superintendent Ajay Pandey said he was running the pharmaceutical unit as a proprietorship entity along with chemical analysts and other team members. As he is a blood pressure and sugar patient, were getting his thorough medical check-up done in TN, after which he will be produced before a local court there for bringing him on transit remand to Chhindwara. Pandey said, As the investigations progress, more accused will be added. They may be doctors who prescribed the same syrup (and it caused damage to childrens health) or vendors and retailers through whose distribution channels the syrup went to the kids. He said, Our 12-member SIT is probing the case and six members of the team are in Chennai currently to bring Ranganathan to Chhindwara. We are still in the initial stages of the probe. Based on the questioning of the pharmaceutical firm owner, it will be established from whom the hazardous chemical was sourced and more accused will be added. There was a strong possibility of Ranganathan fleeing from the country as his cellphones were switched off, but our team finally managed to nab him. The SP-Chhindwara said the autopsy of three kids has already been conducted, but the post mortem reports cannot be made public. We are working on getting more information with the help of the forensic science lab and experts, he added. Meanwhile, sources privy to the ongoing probe revealed that the TN based pharma making unit, which was first registered as a private limited firm in 1990, was later struck off from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs register, yet continued operating under a proprietary structure, raising serious questions about regulatory oversight. Cough syrup deaths linked to lapses at Sresan Pharma; TN begins inspection of 300 drug units