Children deaths caused by contaminated cough syrup reported in past: RS told

New Delhi: Isolated cases of allegedly contaminated cough syrup leading to death in children have been reported in the past, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The World Health Organization, which from time to time issues medical product alerts, had issued one such alert mentioning that laboratory analysis of samples of certain Indian drug products confirmed that they contained unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and/or ethylene glycol as contaminants, she said in a written reply.

Cough syrups are manufactured in India by several entities and sold and distributed as per their composition and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) under different brand names, Patel said.

"There are no such deaths because of cough syrups. However, isolated cases of allegedly contaminated cough syrup leading to death in children have been reported in the past," she stated.