Death toll from toxic cough syrup in India rises to 20 children as WHO demands answers

The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked India for urgent reassurances after at least 20 children died from contaminated cough syrup.

The deaths have all taken place in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, and were confirmed by the deputy chief minister Rajendra Shukla on Tuesday after he visited a hospital treating the children. “Two of them died in the past 24 hours,” he said.

This is only the latest incident of child deaths from Indian cough syrup. Toxins found in Indian-made syrups have killed at least 141 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022, and another 12 children in an incident in India in 2019, damaging the country’s image as one of the world’s biggest producers of pharmaceuticals.

The latest victims had reportedly been suffering from fever and cold before taking a cough syrup called Coldrif, after which they experienced vomiting and difficulty urinating. The first death was reported on 2 September.

The syrup was produced by Sresan Pharmaceuticals, based in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, in southern India.

Authorities have since banned the formulation in eight Indian states and territories – Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Puducherry.

The WHO told Reuters it was seeking clarification from the Indian government on whether the cough syrup involved in the deaths has been exported to other countries.

The UN’s health agency, which advises against the use of all cold syrups for young children, suggested it could issue a global warning over Coldrif depending on the Indian government’s response.

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Source: The Independent, 8 October 2025