The World Health Organization has issued an alert against three cough syrups in India — Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife — after they were linked to child deaths in Madhya Pradesh due to contamination with toxic diethylene glycol (DEG).
Indian authorities have confirmed the syrups were sold domestically, issued stop-use orders, and are investigating the manufacturers to identify lapses in quality control and distribution.
DEG is highly poisonous, causing kidney failure and death, especially in children. Authorities are recalling affected batches and implementing stricter quality checks, while WHO urges global vigilance for these products.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning against three cough syrups in India after investigations linked them to the deaths of several children in Madhya Pradesh. Authorities and health experts are raising alarms over potential contamination and regulatory lapses.
The syrups named in the WHO advisory are Coldrif (Sresan Pharmaceuticals), Respifresh TR (Rednex Pharmaceuticals), and WHO Issues Warning Against The Use Of Three Cough Syrups In India After Child Deaths(Shape Pharma). Laboratory tests revealed that certain batches contain diethylene glycol (DEG) — a toxic industrial chemical — at levels nearly 500 times above the permissible limit. Children under five who consumed Coldrif developed acute kidney failure, leading to multiple fatalities.
Regulatory Response
India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) confirmed that the contaminated syrups were sold domestically and not exported. WHO highlighted gaps in the screening of locally marketed syrups, emphasizing that dangerous products can evade detection. Several states have issued stop-use notices and instructed health systems to remove the implicated syrups from circulation.
Diethylene glycol is highly toxic and can cause kidney failure, neurological damage, and death, especially in children. Its presence in medicinal syrups is considered unsafe and unacceptable.
Coldrif Controversy
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out searches at multiple locations in Chennai linked to Sresan Pharmaceuticals — the manufacturer of Coldrif cough syrup, which has been blamed for the deaths of several children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — as well as top officials of the Tamil Nadu Food and Drug Administration (TNFDA), officials said.
The raids, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), covered at least seven premises across the city, according to PTI.
At least 20 children, most of them under five years old, have died after being administered the cough syrup in the two states.
Laboratory tests later found the syrup to be contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic industrial solvent that can cause acute kidney failure and death when ingested.
Sresan Pharmaceuticals, based in Kanchipuram, was licensed by the TNFDA in 2011. Despite repeated violations of national drug safety norms and poor manufacturing standards, the company continued its operations unchecked for more than a decade, according to findings by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
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