Saddam Mansuri, the father of two, shows bottles of Coldrif, linked to the deaths of several children and a Relife cough syrup, which is not linked to any deaths, but Indian authorities have asked people to avoid it, which he had been giving his one-year-old child, in Parasia, Madhya Pradesh, India, October 10, 2025. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh/File Photo

WHO Issues Advisory on Contaminated Cough Syrups Found in India

The WHO issued a health alert on three contaminated cough syrups found in India, urging countries to report any detection of these medicines to the health agency.

Published on:

13 Oct 2025, 9:11 pm

(Reuters) - The World Health Organization on Monday issued a health advisory warning about three contaminated cough syrups identified in India, urging authorities to report any detection of these medicines in their countries to the health agency.

The WHO said the affected medicines are specific batches of Coldrif from Sresan Pharmaceutical, Respifresh TR from Rednex Pharmaceuticals and ReLife from Shape Pharma.

The agency said the contaminated products pose significant risks and can cause severe, potentially life-threatening illness.

India's health authority, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, informed the WHO the syrups were reportedly consumed by children, all under the age of five, who recently died in the central state of Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara city.

The cough medicine contained toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit.

CDSCO said none of the contaminated medicines have been exported from India and there is no evidence of illegal export.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed on Friday that these toxic cough syrups had not been shipped to the United States.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Vijay Kishore)