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- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Sat, 04 Oct 2025 07:08 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Cough Syrup Row: The Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments have banned the sale of popular cough syrup ‘Coldrif’ after it was linked to the deaths of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara and Pandhurna. The cough syrup came under scanner after nine deaths were initially reported from Chhindwara, where at least 10 children died due to kidney failure within 15 days. Later, it was alleged that the children were given the Coldrif cough syrup for treatment.
The MP government initiated a probe and also alerted the Tamil Nadu government, where the cough syrup was manufactured by Sresan Pharma in Kanchipuram. However, the samples of the cough syrup collected from Madhya Pradesh were not found to be contaminated; the samples taken from the manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu were found to contain Diethylene Glycol (DEG) above the permissible limits.
The deaths of children in Chhindwara district due to consuming Coldrif Cough syrup are extremely tragic. Following the report of the investigation into Coldrif Cough Syrup, the sale of this syrup has been completely banned in Madhya Pradesh. A campaign is underway across the…
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025
The Centre has now ordered an inspection across 19 drug manufacturing sites across six states to check the lapses in quality control. The health departments of these two states explicitly prohibited the use of these contaminated medicines, stating that “adulteration with diethylene glycol is highly dangerous, as this chemical is toxic and can cause severe poisoning, including kidney failure and death."
What Is Diethylene Glycol (DEG)?
Diethylene Glycol (DEG) or Ethylene Glycol (EG) is a colourless toxic chemical compound that is used as an industrial solvent in paints, dyes, resins, and plastics. It is also used in antifreeze, brake fluid, wallpaper strippers, and fabric and dye manufacturing.
The compound is medically unfit for consumption and can cause both nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity upon ingestion, as reported by Science Direct. This chemical is highly toxic for human consumption, which can lead to kidney failure, liver failure, neurological conditions, and death.
How the DEG compound breaks down inside the human body? Source: Science Direct
The fatality of the compound was investigated in a research paper titled, ‘Venous diethylene glycol poisoning in patients with preexisting severe liver disease in China’ published by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Gambia also reported a similar case where around 70 children died after consuming contaminated cough syrup. Children are especially vulnerable to DEG, as even a small dosage of the toxic compound can cause severe health complications in children.
The World Health Organisation has issued six warnings since 2022 not to contaminate the cough syrups with DEG/EG compounds. Over 300 children have died since 2022 due to adulteration of cough syrups with these compounds.