TN begins inspection of 300 drug units after Coldrif deaths

ROUTINE inspections were not conducted at Sresan Pharmaceutical unit in Kancheepuram, the manufacturer of the Coldrif cough syrup linked to the deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

- SINDUJA JANE @Chennai

The unit, which had been operating for over 40 years, may have paid renewal licence fee online, and the officials would have issued the license without physical verification, an official source said. The state drug control department has now started inspecting over 300 drug manufacturing units across the state.

Drug inspectors TNIE spoke to said there are around 350 pharmaceutical manufacturing units across the state, in addition to over 300 blood banks and 100 medical devices and cosmetics units. These units should be routinely inspected only by the senior drug inspectors (SDI). However, there are only 14 sanctioned SDIs in the state.