A CDSCO inspection found unbilled containers of DEG, a highly toxic chemical, at Srisan Pharma’s factory. The company was adding 46-48% of DEG to cough syrup against the permitted limit of only 0.1%, thye news report said.

Coldrif is at the centre of the controversy behind the death of over a dozen children in Madhya Pradesh this week. The syrup contains salts banned for use in children under the age of four, according to a 2023 order accessed by NDTV.

Prescribed in children to treat symptoms of cold and cough, including runny nose, sneezing and sore throat and watery eyes, Coldrif contains Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Paracetamol and Phenylephrine.

On Oct. 2, the Tamil Nadu drug control authorities declared that the Coldrif syrup sample they tested was adulterated.

The Madhya Pradesh Police has filed a criminal case against a government paediatrician and the directors of Sresan Pharma. They have been booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 276 (adulteration of drugs) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as section 27(A) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.