More than 20 kids in India have died from contaminated cough syrup. Who's to blame?

Gabrielle Emanuel

October 10, 2025 / 7:10 am

In India, this week, headlines capture the outrage.

"Cough Syrup Horror" reads India Today . New Delhi Television Ltd or NDTV declares: "Toxic Cough Syrup Scare: What Went Wrong And Why All Syrups Aren't Unsafe"

More than 20 children in India are dead. The cause: Cough syrup contaminated with industrial chemicals.

For many, it feels like deja vu.

"This is an issue which has been going on for 90 years or more," says Naseem Hudroge, an analyst at the World Health Organization's team on substandard and falsified medical products.

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In that time, more than 1,300 people — many children under 5 — have died of this type of contamination. And

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