Alarm bells are ringing across India after 12 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan died following complications allegedly linked to cough syrup use. The concerning developments prompted the Union Health Ministry to issue an advisory on Friday, urging doctors not to prescribe cough and cold medicines to children below two years of age.
Centre Issues Advisory, Rules Out Contamination
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) circulated the advisory to all states and Union Territories. Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry clarified that none of the cough syrup samples collected from Madhya Pradesh contained diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, two toxic compounds known to cause severe kidney damage.
Samples were collected after reports linked several child deaths to suspected contaminated cough syrups. However, with the Centre ruling out contamination, the exact cause of acute kidney failure in affected children remains a mystery.
Madhya Pradesh: Nine Deaths in Chhindwara, Probe Underway
In Madhya Pradesh, nine children have died in Chhindwara district over the past month, while five others are receiving specialised treatment in Nagpur, said District Collector Harendra Narayan Singh.
Following the incidents, local authorities imposed a temporary ban on two cough syrup brands as a precautionary measure. “The distributor’s stock in Jabalpur has been sealed,” confirmed Dr. Sanjay Mishra, Joint Director of Health Services.
ICMR and state teams collected 19 syrup samples. Labs found no contamination in nine, while tests on the remaining 10—including the two banned medicines—are still pending. Officials await forensic and biochemical reports to determine the final cause.
Authorities first reported the cases in late August, concentrating them in Parasia and nearby villages. Most affected children, under five, initially showed cold and fever. After doctors administered cough syrup and routine medication, their condition worsened—showing reduced urine output and symptoms of kidney failure.
Rajasthan: Three Deaths Reported, Investigation Launched
In Rajasthan, authorities reported three child deaths in the past week, along with several cases of adverse reactions after children took cough syrup under the state government’s free medicine scheme.
Although the Health Department denied a direct link between the deaths and the dextromethorphan-based formulation, it banned the syrup’s sale and distribution pending lab results and formal investigation.The authorities have tasked a three-member committee to probe the deaths.
A five-year-old boy from Sikar district died on September 29 after the syrup intake worsened his condition. Another child died in Bharatpur, while five other children in both districts experienced vomiting, drowsiness, dizziness, restlessness, and loss of consciousness.
In a third case, Jaipur’s JK Lone Hospital reported that a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from Weir town, Bharatpur, died on September 27 after doctors prescribed him Amodroxol cough syrup. Although the child’s family blamed the syrup, the Chief Medical Officer’s fact-finding report noted that he had a prior history of febrile seizures, a condition common in children with viral infections.
Meanwhile, the health department is also examining reports of children in Banswara developing complications between September 16 and 30 after consuming cough syrup.
Rajasthan Suspends All Kaysans Pharma Medicines
Amid the growing concerns, Rajasthan has halted the supply of all 19 medicines manufactured by Jaipur-based Kaysans Pharma, which supplied the dextromethorphan-based syrup under scrutiny.
According to Pukhraj Sen, Managing Director of the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited, since 2012, 10,119 samples of medicines made by Kaysans Pharma have undergone quality testing. Authorities found 42 of these substandard.
As a precautionary step, the state has suspended the company’s supplies until further notice while awaiting conclusive test results.
Ongoing Investigations and Public Health Concerns
Authorities are actively investigating the deaths and the possible role of cough syrups in causing children’s kidney failures. Although they have not confirmed contamination, these incidents have prompted renewed scrutiny of pediatric drug safety and quality control across India.
Public health experts have stressed the urgent need to avoid unnecessary use of cough and cold syrups in children, especially those under two years of age, and to strengthen pharmacovigilance mechanisms nationwide.