‘Was cough syrup linked to child deaths exported to other countries,’ WHO asks India

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sought clarification from the Central government if the Coldrif cough syrup, linked to the death of 20 children in Madhya Pradesh, was exported to other countries. The WHO further said that it will assess the need for a Global Medical Products Alert on ‘Coldrif’ syrup after it receives an official confirmation from the Indian authorities, said a Reuters report. Meanwhile, Indian authorities on Wednesday advised the public to avoid two more brands of cough syrup after the deaths of children. The children died after consuming cough medicine containing toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit, officials say. The deaths were all linked to the Coldrif medicine, banned after a test confirmed the presence of the chemical on October 2.

The Respifresh and RELIFE syrups also contain diethylene glycol, according to alerts by Gujarat and other states on Wednesday that described it as “a toxic chemical that can cause serious poisoning, including kidney failure, neurological complications, and even death, especially among children”.

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As per law, Indian drugmakers have to mandatorily test each batch of raw materials and the final product. The export of cough syrups requires another layer of tests at government-mandated laboratories since 2023 following the deaths of over 140 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Cameroon linked to Indian syrups.

Ethylene or diethylene glycol toxins were found in Indian-made cough syrups that dented the image of the world’s third-biggest drug-manufacturing country by volume.

India’s pharmaceutical industry is valued at $50 billion and more than half of its value comes from exports.

India supplies 40% of generic medicines used in the U.S., and more than 90% of all medicines in many African nations.

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Telangana DCA issues alert on two more cough syrups

The Telangana Drugs Control Administration (DCA) on Wednesday issued a ‘stop-use’ public alert for two more cough syrups—Relife and Respifresh TR—after laboratory tests found diethylene glycol, a highly toxic chemical linked to child deaths in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

This is the second alert in less than a week, following an earlier order to halt the sale of Coldrif syrup

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MP minister blames TN govt, says its ‘grave negligence’ led to deaths

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh minister Narendra Shivaji Patel on Wednesday blamed the Tamil Nadu government for the death of 20 children in his state due to consumption of allegedly contaminated cough syrup. He said the southern state showed “grave negligence” as it was its responsibility to inspect the medicines going out of the state.

Patel also asserted that while the MP government randomly inspects medicines coming into the state, it was “by chance” that this particular stock of cough syrup remained untested.