MP HC denies bail to doctor accused of prescribing Coldrif cough syrup despite warning

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently denied bail to Dr. Pravin Soni, arrested last year for prescribing Coldrif cough syrup that led to the death of several children in Chhindwara district.

In an order passed on Tuesday, Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal took note of a statement that a senior doctor from Nagpur had warned Dr Soni about similar deaths that had taken place in 1998 due to an adulterated cough syrup. Despite the same, Dr Soni kept prescribing the cough syrup, which led to the loss of 26 lives, the Court said.

“Despite the conversation which took place between the present applicant and senior doctor Shri Praveen Khapekar wherein Dr Praveen Khapekar informed him that in 1998 at Delhi, due to DEG-contaminated cough syrup, 33 children were died and maybe this time also, there is possibility of same reaction, even then the applicant continued to prescribe the cough syrup, due to which, more than 26 innocent children below the age of 4-5 years have died,” the Court said, adding that the cough syrup caused harm to the public health and that Soni had received commission for prescribing it.

“Present applicant has prescribed the fixed dose compound to the children which was banned by the circular issued by the Government on 18.12.2023; the senior doctor Dr. Praveen Khapekar had informed and cautioned the applicant about the incident of 1998, wherein, due to DEG-contaminated cough syrup, 33 children were died and maybe this time also, there is possibility of same reaction, even then the applicant continued to prescribe the alleged cough syrup, hence, this is not a fit case to grant bail to the applicant,” the Bench further said.

At least 26 children died after allegedly consuming the cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh. The deaths sparked outrage across India, with many States banning Coldrif after it was reportedly found to be contaminated with high levels of toxic Diethylene Glycol. However, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) condemned Dr. Soni’s arrest, stating that the culpability for introducing an adulterated drug into the market rests squarely with the manufacturer and the enforcement agencies.

A trial court on October 8, 2025, had declined bail to Dr. Soni, noting that he had prescribed the medicine to children below the age of four years in violation of the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Health Sciences. The Court had also said that the probe into the deaths is still incomplete and the allegations against the accused are of a serious nature.