INDIA'S COUGH SYRUP CONTROVERSY: COLLAPSE OF REGULATION AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Cough syrups are a common remedy for relieving symptoms like colds, allergies, and respiratory infections.

- DR. S.KRISHNAN, DR. ANIL BUNDELA & TEJULAL PRASAD CHAURASIA

Among them, Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup have been widely used in different regions. These medications are designed to ease cough, congestion, and other discomforts in both children and adults. However, concerns have recently emerged regarding their safety and quality.

The recent deaths of children due to consumption of cough syrup have exposed gaps in pharmaceutical safety oversight. At least 16 children, mostly under five years of age, died after consuming contaminated Coldrif cough syrup manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Tamil Nadu. Cough syrup crisis was a public health tragedy involving the deaths of several children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after consuming contaminated cough syrups.In Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, at least 24 children died after taking Coldrif syrup manufactured by Sresan Pharma, which was later found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic chemical used in industrial solvents. Around the same period, three children in Rajasthan died after consuming Kufdil and other dextromethorphan-based syrups distributed under the state's free medicine scheme.

The incident led to widespread criticism of India's drug regulatory system and renewed concerns over pharmaceutical quality control. It also drew international attention, as it followed earlier cases of diethylene glycol poisoning linked to Indian-made syrups in Gambia and Uzbekistan.

INDIA'S HISTORY WITH TOXIC SYRUPS The Coldrif tragedy is not an isolated incident. India has witnessed several cough syrup deaths over the past three decades: • In 1998, 33 children died in Gurugram after consuming syrup containing DEG, with 150 children hospitalized with acute kidney failure in Delhi.

• In 2020, 17 children died in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramnagar after taking contaminated cough syrup with DEG.