The tragic deaths of children in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, allegedly linked to contaminated cough syrups, have once again exposed deep fissures in India’s drug regulatory system. While preliminary findings show one sample-Coldrif syrup-containing diethylene glycol beyond permissible limits, the mere existence of such contamination in a children’s medicine is alarming. These deaths are not isolated incidents; they are part of a recurring pattern that has, time and again, shaken public confidence in India’s pharmaceutical oversight. The Union Health Ministry’s directive to states to ensure compliance with the Revised Schedule M norms for drug manufacturing and to promote rational use of cough syrups is both timely and necessary. However, these measures, though crucial, come after lives have already been lost. What is particularly distressing is the thought that these are only the reported cases-many more might have gone unnoticed or unrecorded, especially in rural or remote areas where medical reporting remains weak.
The most pressing question is: how did contaminated syrups reach the market in the first place? The drug licensing and control departments are mandated to carry out periodic random sampling and rigorous quality checks. A failure to detect such toxicity before the medicines reached children points to either negligence or serious procedural gaps. It happened in J&K’s Ramnagar in 2019-2020 and victims are still waiting for justice. Post-tragedy inspections and advisories are mere knee-jerk responses unless accompanied by systemic reform, accountability, and regular monitoring. While the Government has initiated regulatory and legal action, including recommending the cancellation of the manufacturer’s licence and launching criminal proceedings, punitive steps after the damage is done cannot undo the suffering of parents who watched their children die from what should have been a harmless medication.
The current crisis must serve as a turning point. Drug manufacturing compliance cannot remain a paper exercise. Vigilant enforcement of quality control norms, independent audits, and a transparent system of public reporting are essential. Every lapse in oversight has a potential human toll-and when the victims are children, there can be no justification for leniency. The noose of law must tighten around the culprits, and Governments-both central and state-must ensure that such tragedies never recur.
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