MP govt moves to tighten drug monitoring, spurs crackdown
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who holds the Public Health and Medical Education (PH&ME) portfolio, on Sunday directed officials to fast-track a comprehensive overhaul of Madhya Pradesh’s drug quality monitoring system, following the toxic syrup tragedy that claimed 25 children in Chhindwara and Betul districts. He also ordered strict action against negligent officials and manufacturers to prevent such incidents in the future.
Chairing a high-level review meeting, Shukla described the incident as a “serious crime” in which the state lost its precious children. He emphasised that accountability must extend beyond the Coldrif syrup firm that produced the contaminated medicine to officials who showed lapses in oversight there.
“The state government has taken steps to draft a strengthened drug monitoring framework to ensure such incidents do not recur,” Shukla told Millennium Post.
He further instructed that all factual and procedural lapses be documented and communicated to Tamil Nadu authorities, where the manufacturer is based, to ensure strict action against both the company and officers negligent in the investigation. Action should also be taken against the employees of the private firm involved.
As part of the Drug Monitoring Infrastructure Upgradation Plan, the state’s drug testing laboratories in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, and Gwalior will be modernized with microbiology and sterility testing facilities and advanced instruments including HPLC, GLC, GCMSMS, LCMS, IR, UV, dissolution testers, and disintegration testers. NABL accreditation will be sought for all labs to ensure credible and timely testing.
To strengthen enforcement, new posts of analysts, chemists, lab assistants, sampling staff, and data operators will be created, along with a dedicated enforcement cell and legal unit. Field officials will be equipped with handheld devices for on-the-spot drug quality checks.
Shukla also ordered joint inspections with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Strict guidelines have been issued for codeine-based syrups, limiting sales to prescriptions, capping quantities, and ensuring the presence of registered pharmacists at the point of sale.
“The objective is to ensure drug safety, prevent misuse, and protect public health,” Shukla said, adding that strict action will also serve as a warning to other drug manufacturers and ensure compliance with regulations. At the meeting, Principal Secretary of the PH&ME department Sanddep Yadav and other officials were present.
Children under five years old died in MP after consuming TN-based Sresan Pharma’s Coldrif syrup, contaminated with toxic diethylene glycol at nearly 500 times the permissible limit. The firm’s owner, S. Ranganathan, was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police.
