3 minutes of readingBombayUpdated: Feb 4, 2026 09:38 pm IST
Harsh Yaduwanshi (4), one of the last surviving victims of the Case of poisoning by Coldrif cough syrup undergoing treatment in Nagpur, died on Sunday at AIIMS Nagpur. An autopsy was conducted on Monday, hospital officials told The Indian Express.
Harsh fell ill on September 26 in Tikabarri village of Amla tehsil in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh after pediatrician Dr Praveen Soni prescribed him Coldrif cough syrup for cough and cold symptoms, his mother Radha had said when The indian express He visited AIIMS in November.
Since then, Radha had remained at AIIMS Nagpur, often alone, clinging to hope as she waited for her son to recover, while watching another child from the state in the same hospital gradually improve. AIIMS discharged another Coldrif poisoning victim after full recovery in December 2025.
At the time Harsh fell ill, his father Gokul was lodged in Multai jail over a family dispute. She was initially granted two days’ bail to visit her son for one hour. He subsequently got long-term bail and joined Radha in the hospital in November 2025.
Harsh served four years while lying in a coma. When The Indian Express visited AIIMS in November, a senior hospital official said the boy’s condition was critical, with severe deterioration in brain function being the main concern.
An AIIMS official said Harsh died around 8.30 pm on Sunday. “When he was admitted to AIIMS from a local hospital, he was suffering from kidney failure and brain damage. While his kidney function gradually improved, the brain damage persisted,” the official said. Harsh had been undergoing treatment at AIIMS Nagpur since October 7.
In January, after more than three months in the hospital, Radha briefly returned to her village to care for her youngest son, who had fallen ill while staying with his grandparents.
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With Harsh’s death, the toll of the Coldrif cough syrup poisoning case has risen to 25.