Cough syrup case: Accused doctor Praveen Soni's wife arrested, pharmacy accused of selling adulterated syrup

News Topical, Digital Desk : The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the cough syrup case allegedly responsible for the death of 24 children in Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday arrested the wife of accused Dr Praveen Soni. 

Dr. Soni, a resident of Chhindwara, allegedly prescribed adulterated cough syrup called "Coldrif" to most of the sick children. He was arrested last month on charges of negligence in connection with the deaths of children from kidney failure.

Jyoti Soni was arrested from her home late last night.

Dr. Soni's wife, Jyoti Soni, another accused in the case, was arrested from her home in Parasia town in Chhindwara district on Monday night (November 3), said Jitendra Jat, sub-divisional police officer and head of the SIT.

7 arrested so far

She said she owned a medical store where the cough syrup was sold to several victims. She added that seven people have been arrested so far in connection with the cough syrup case.

Following the deaths of children, the Tamil Nadu government revoked the license of Shresan Pharma, a cough syrup manufacturer. Those arrested include Shresan Pharma owner G. Ranganathan, medical representative Satish Verma, chemist K. Maheshwari, wholesaler Rajesh Soni, and medical store pharmacist Saurabh Jain.

Deaths due to kidney failure after consuming cough syrup

Twenty-four children in Madhya Pradesh died of kidney failure after consuming Coldrif cough syrup. Most of these children were under the age of five. At least three children in neighboring Rajasthan also died after consuming cough syrup.

Following the tragedy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an alert against three 'substandard' oral cough syrups identified in India - Coldrif, Respifresh and Relife.

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