Indian authorities say they are investigating whether contaminated cough syrup caused the deaths of nine children, all aged below five years, in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan since late August.
The investigation was ordered by the federal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday after a batch of the medication was found to contain dangerous levels of a toxic chemical.
The ministry said samples of Coldrif cough syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharma in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, were tested by state authorities and found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG) exceeding permissible limits.
DEG is a toxic substance used in industrial solvents that can be fatal if ingested even in small amounts.
“The samples are found to contain DEG beyond the permissible limit,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Mohan Yadav, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, where most of the deaths have been reported, said the sale of the syrup has been banned throughout the central state.
“The sale of other products from the company that manufactures the syrup is also being banned,” he said.
Authorities in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala also banned the product, local media reports said, after Tamil Nadu’s drug regulator confirmed DEG contamination in samples taken directly from Sresan Pharma’s manufacturing site in Kanchipuram.
However, the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration (MPFDA) said three of the 13 samples it analysed were found free of contamination, according to the Health Ministry statement.
Authorities have launched inspections of 19 drug manufacturers across six states to identify quality control lapses and recommend improvements to prevent future incidents, the ministry said.
Sresan Pharma did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email, the Reuters news agency reported.
Cough syrups manufactured in India have come under global scrutiny in recent years, with deaths linked to their consumption reported from around the world, including the death of more than 70 children in The Gambia in 2022.
