October 9, 2025

A shocking health crisis has rocked India as 20 children in Madhya Pradesh tragically died after possibly consuming contaminated cough syrup. This deadly news has pushed several states to act fast, banning two more cough syrups—Relife by Shape Pharma and Respifresh TR by Rednex Pharmaceuticals, both Gujarat-based companies. Telangana drug officials immediately asked people to stop using these syrups, following Gujarat’s ban just a day earlier. Questions are swirling around how these toxic syrups slipped past safety checks. The Centre is probing the regulatory systems for not catching the contaminated syrups made by Tamil Nadu-based Sresan Pharma before they reached the market. The pharmaceutical unit has been sealed, and authorities are on the lookout for its owner. Adding international pressure, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stepped in, reaching out to India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to clarify if the toxic medicines were exported outside India. A WHO spokesperson said, "We had contacted the CDSCO for information on these events, including clarification regarding potential links to contaminated medicines and whether the products were exported to other countries." The WHO expressed "deep concern" and stressed the urgent need to screen all suspicious samples for dangerous chemicals like Diethylene Glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG). They also flagged a regulatory gap in India's system for detecting these poisons. India’s toxic cough syrups have caused deaths abroad before, such as in Gambia. The CDSCO has now urged all State and Union Territory drug controllers to rigorously test both raw materials and finished medicines. They stressed manufacturers must follow laws strictly, including testing every batch of raw material and final product. The CDSCO pointed out failures during inspections, calling out producers for skipping essential quality tests. According to CDSCO, under Drugs Rules 74 (c) and 78 (c) (ii), manufacturers must retain detailed records proving batches meet standards. The tragedy has shocked the medical community too. A leading doctor, Dr Dilip Bhanushali, National President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), condemned the arrest of a Madhya Pradesh pediatrician linked to the case. In a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, he demanded "the immediate withdrawal of the case against the bona fide medical practitioner, and focus the investigative and enforcement resources on the manufacturer and the regulatory bodies whose institutional failure led to this tragic loss of life." As investigations unfold, the nation watches anxiously, hoping for justice and stronger safeguards against such deadly medicine scandals in future.

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Tags: Cough syrup deaths, Madhya pradesh, Who inquiry, Cdsco, Contaminated medicines, Child deaths,