Move to ban cough syrup for children under two years, steps begin

NEW DELHI: Reports say cough syrups given to children below the age of two may be banned. There is such a proposal in the draft of the National Formulary of India, 2026, released by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission. The Union Health Ministry and the Drugs Controller General of India have reportedly started steps for this. However, the proposal also states that in extremely serious cases, the medicines can be given under the supervision of doctors after tests.

The move follows the discovery of toxic substances such as diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in some cough and cold medicines in 2025. These chemicals in the medicines can seriously affect the functioning of children's kidneys.

The most reported cases of children dying after consuming cough syrups were in Madhya Pradesh. More than the permissible level of DEG (diethylene glycol) was found in the cough syrup manufactured in Tamil Nadu. This was found in samples collected from a pharmacy in Kanchipuram. The samples were collected and tested at the request of the Madhya Pradesh government. A similar complaint about cough syrups had been raised from Rajasthan. However, some reports emerged at that time that the tests conducted by central agencies in the incident revealed that there were no problems with the cough syrup.