Coldrif row: Madhya Pradesh took 2 weeks to raise red flag on cough syrup deaths; accused doctor's bail rejected

BHOPAL: The first cases of children’s deaths in Madhya Pradesh after consuming cough syrup were reported on September 3, but it was only on September 16 that the administration recognised the severity of the situation and began a survey to check children’s health in Parasia block of Chhindwara district. The exercise gained pace two days later, after Nagpur hospitals alerted authorities about multiple child deaths due to renal failure. However, medicine samples were collected only after September 26, when a biopsy report from Nagpur’s Government Medical College and Hospital revealed “acute tubular injury” in one of the deceased children. Officials said during the initial public hearings, the administration came across several similar cases of renal failure among local children. An aler