In early September, a small town in Madhya Pradesh was rocked by tragedy. Nineteen children, aged between one and six, died within weeks of taking a cough syrup. Investigations showed their kidneys had failed. The later findings were chilling: the syrup contained 48.6 per cent diethylene glycol (DEG) a dangerous industrial solvent that should never be part of any medicine.
A Painful Echo From The Past
This wasn’t an isolated incident. In fact:
- In Gambia, Indian-made syrups contaminated with DEG were linked to the deaths of about 70 children.
- In Uzbekistan, 18 young lives were lost for the same reason.
- Back home in Jammu and Kashmir, between December 2019 and January 2020, at least 12 children under the age of five died after reportedly consuming a tainted cough syrup.
What Exactly Is This Chemical, And Why Is It So Dangerous?
Diethylene glycol (DEG) is usually used in antifreeze, solvents, brake fluids, and other industrial products. It’s not meant for the human body.
When it does get in, even trace amounts can wreak havoc. The kidneys, liver, and nervous system are at serious risk. In children, symptoms often begin with vomiting, abdominal pain, lethargy and soon after, it can lead to acute kidney failure and even death.
How Did This Happen, Again?
There are a few reasons this keeps happening:
- Poor quality control in some manufacturing units. Sometimes, industrial-grade glycerine (which may contain DEG or EG) is used instead of pharmaceutical-grade materials.
- Insufficient testing of finished products. While raw materials may need to be tested, there’s often no mandatory check for these toxic impurities in syrups already in the market. The regulatory system struggles to enforce compliance consistently, especially among smaller makers and in less regulated markets.
What’s Being Done
The government has taken several steps in response:
- Coldrif, a syrup made by Sresan Pharma (Tamil Nadu), was banned after it was found to have DEG far above the permissible limit.
- Other syrups Respifresh TR and ReLife were also recalled.
- Health ministries are pushing for tighter inspections, better oversight of raw material sources, and stricter rules for medicines meant for children.
Why We Need A Change In Approach
For many, the problem isn’t just one syrup or one tragedy. It’s that we still rely heavily on over-the-counter cough remedies, even though they offer only comfort in most cases, not cure. Many coughs are viral or caused by allergies, pollution, or irritation, things that medicines can’t magically fix.
Doctors warn that cough syrups should not be a go-to, especially for very young children. More education is needed for parents, healthcare workers, and pharmacists on when to use these medicines, and when not to. We desperately need regulatory systems that catch unsafe products before they reach shelves.
These losses aren’t just numbers. They’re stories of families who trusted medicine, of oversight that failed, and of children who never got another chance.