New
Delhi: The Indian government has made it mandatory for buyers to have a
doctor's prescription before purchasing cough syrups and other syrup-based
medicines, in a bid to curb misuse and prevent incidents such as the deaths of
children in several states last year.
In
October last year, the World Health Organisation expressed "deep
concerns" over drug safety regulations in India after more than 20
children died following intake of contaminated cough syrups in Madhya Pradesh
and Rajasthan. The alerts related to three cough syrup brands - Coldrif,
Respifresh TR, and ReLife - identified as substandard. The draft National
Formulary of India 2026 also urged the government to restrict cough and cold
medicines for children under two and limit their use for those under five
unless clinically necessary.
A
few Indian cough syrup brands have raised global concerns over the years. About
90 deaths of children in The Gambia, Cameroon, and Uzbekistan in 2023 were
linked to Indian syrups contaminated with diethylene glycol, a toxic industrial
solvent. Laboratory tests revealed DEG concentrations hundreds of times above
permissible limits.
The Drugs Controller of India has inspected over 90 percent of 1,100 cough syrup manufacturers and found significant compliance lapses. "Our belief is that the rot of cough syrup manufacturing will be removed," said Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Raghuvanshi, adding that he wants to bring Indian drug regulations on par with the US Food and Drug Administration.
