Risk of Contaminated Cough Syrup Exports Through Unregulated Channels, Warns WHO

The WHO has urged national regulatory authorities to conduct targeted market surveillance, particularly in informal and unregulated markets, to prevent further harm.

The Wire Staff

Oct 13 2025

The WHO has urged national regulatory authorities to conduct targeted market surveillance, particularly in informal and unregulated markets, to prevent further harm.

An elderly woman looks at a bottle of Coldrif cough syrup in Betul, Madhya Pradesh. The state government has banned the sale of the cough syrup following the death of 14 children in Chhindwara due to suspected renal failure. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that there is a potential risk of contaminated cough syrups being exported to other countries through unregulated channels after at least 20 children died in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan due to consumption of Coldrif cough syrup.

On October 1, the WHO had contacted the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) seeking clarification regarding potential links to contaminated medicines and whether the products were exported to other countries.

Responding to WHO's letter, the CDSCO confirmed that at least three oral syrup medicines – Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife – contain diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic substance that can be fatal even in small amounts, but "none of the products were exported from India."

However, the WHO has urged national regulatory authorities to conduct targeted market surveillance, particularly in informal and unregulated markets, to prevent further harm.

Also read: Cough Syrup Deaths: Indian Medical Association Urges Withdrawal of Charges Against Arrested Doctor

"There is currently no reliable mechanism to verify whether products have been exported through illicit or unregulated channels – precisely because such exports typically leave no formal trace. This is what makes the risk particularly concerning," a WHO spokesperson told TOI.

On Monday (October 13), the Enforcement Directorate has reportedly launched searches at seven locations in Chennai linked to Sresan Pharma, which made Coldrif cough syrup, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sresan Pharma's owner G. Ranganathan was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police last week.

Meanwhile, Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has announced that the state has initiated random checks in September and collected nearly 300-400 samples. None of the samples showed non-standard quality (NSQ) results, he mentioned. The Karnataka government has banned the three suspected syrups and issued circulars to healthcare professionals, pharmacies, and other stakeholders, advising them not to prescribe, sell, or purchase the contaminated products.

Several other states, including Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, have banned the sale of Coldrif cough syrup.

This article went live on October thirteenth, two thousand twenty five, at zero minutes past two in the afternoon.

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Risk of Contaminated Cough Syrup Exports Through Unregulated Channels, Warns WHO

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