The Union Health Ministry said on Friday that tests had confirmed that cough syrups linked to the recent deaths of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan did not contain contaminants like diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol responsible for kidney injury.
However, the Tamil Nadu government has banned the sale of cough syrup ‘Coldrif’ from October 1 and ordered its removal from the market following suspicions linking it to the death children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The Tamil Nadu’s Drugs Control Department issued an immediate prohibition of production order to the manufacturer of the Coldrif brand of cough syrup after an analysis by the Government Drugs Testing Laboratory found a batch to be “not of standard quality” and “adulterated with diethylene glycol”.
The nine deaths in Madhya Pradesh were attributed to Coldrif, while two deaths in Rajasthan were linked to the consumption of a dextromethorphan-based formula.
Also Read: DGHS warns against cough syrups for children under two
Meanwhile, a joint team of representatives from the National Centre for Disease Control, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, along with other institutes visited Madhya Pradesh and collected samples of cough syrups and blood and other samples from patients.
The Ministry said, “As per the results, none of the samples contained diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol (EG), contaminants that are known to cause serious kidney injury.”
The Tamil Nadu government also ordered inspections to be conducted at the Coldrif-manufacturing pharmaceutical company’s facility in Sunguvarchathram in neighbouring Kancheepuram district during the last two days, from where samples have been collected.
The company, informed an official, supplies the medicines to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry.
Taking cognisance of the infant deaths, the Union Health Ministry on Friday issued an advisory to all states and Union Territories, directing that cough and cold medications should not be prescribed to children under the age of 2 years.
The advisory was issued by the Directorate General of Health Services. The food safety official said, “The department has been asked to prevent the sale of the syrup and freeze the stocks from October 1.”
India has faced similar crises before, when 12 children died in Jammu in 2020 after drinking contaminated cough syrup. In 2022, 70 children died in the Gambia, also allegedly due to Indian syrups laced with DEG.
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