Nagpur: Most cough syrups sold in India still do not carry a warning label prohibiting their use in children below two years of age, despite global recommendations and recent tragedies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, highlighted Dr Sanjiv Singh Rawat, chairperson of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) National Respiratory Chapter.
Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of PedPulmocon 2025, the 37th annual conference of the IAP National Respiratory Chapter, Dr Rawat said the absence of such labels poses a serious risk of misuse, especially when parents purchase syrups over the counter without medical advice.
Referring to this year’s deaths linked to cough syrup Coldrif, Dr Rawat clarified that the children did not die due to the standard formulation but because of contamination by a harmful chemical — a pharmaceutical manufacturing lapse. “The government is trying to blame doctors, but the contamination was a regulatory failure. The same formulations are safely sold across India every day,” he said.
He said cough syrups are not recommended for children below two, as they may cause excessive drowsiness leading to aspiration, but they do not cause death unless contaminated. Over-the-counter (OTC) sales without age restrictions are unsafe, yet no corrective action has been taken.
Mumbai-based paediatric pulmonologist Dr Indu Khosla questioned how certain cough syrups are easily available in Indian markets despite being unavailable abroad. She noted that paediatricians are aware of the risks, and parents too have become more cautious, no longer insisting on unnecessary prescriptions.
PedPulmocon 2025, themed “Breathing Better Future,” was inaugurated in Nagpur in the presence of national faculty and delegates from across India. Maharashtra Medical Council administrator Dr Vinky Rughwani, senior paediatrician Dr Uday Bodankar, and paediatric pulmonologist Dr Shilpa Hazare were present. Nagpur-based paediatrician and organising committee member Dr Suchit Bagde also raised concern over preventable child deaths due to respiratory illnesses.
He said India records around 3.5 lakh pneumonia deaths in children every year, the highest globally, largely due to malnutrition, delayed access to treatment in remote areas, and underutilisation of available vaccines.>
