When medicine meant to cure becomes a cause of death, it is not a tragic accident; it is proof of systemic rot in governance and regulation. It is also blatant corruption. The recent deaths of three children in Rajasthan after consuming contaminated cough syrup under the Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme have shaken the conscience of our state. This was not fate. This was preventable. And the responsibility lies with those who were supposed to ensure medicine safety.
The toxic cough syrup in question, containing Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide, was manufactured by Kayson Pharma, a company earlier blacklisted for failing over 40 quality checks. This company has a documented history of producing substandard drugs. Shockingly, it was awarded a fresh government tender by the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSC), the very agency mandated to safeguard citizens by procuring only verified, quality-assured medicines.
This raises a serious and unavoidable question: what were our regulatory agencies doing? Where was the vigilance of RMSC officials, the State Drug Control Organisation, and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)? How could a company with such a tainted track record be entrusted with supplying medicines for our children?
The facts are chilling. The first child deaths were reported in early September from the Bayana and Sikar districts. Rather than halting distribution immediately, the government’s response was to suspend one junior officer and form a routine inquiry panel.
Toxic syrup continued to be available in hospitals and health centres. It took the public collapse of a doctor who consumed the syrup to “prove its safety” for the government to react, but by then, the third child, a two-year-old from Bharatpur, had already died.
This is not mere mismanagement; this is criminal negligence. The CDSCO and state authorities had already issued three advisories in June 2023, August 2024, and April 2025, warning about Dextromethorphan formulations and their risks. Yet, those warnings were ignored.
The procurement process itself appears compromised. When tenders are awarded to blacklisted firms, when substandard medicines pass unchecked into public supply chains, and when quality testing mechanisms fail or are bypassed, it is not a single act of oversight; it is a pattern of governance failure.
The deaths in Rajasthan are not isolated. They follow a disturbing national and international pattern — from 20 children who died in Madhya Pradesh to Jammu & Kashmir, to Gambia to Uzbekistan — where toxic syrups containing deadly contaminants like Diethylene Glycol (DEG) have claimed hundreds of children’s lives. Yet, instead of learning from these tragedies, regulatory inertia continues.
What we are witnessing is a betrayal of public trust. The RMSC, state drug regulators, and procurement agencies have not just failed in their duty; they have violated the basic principle that public health schemes must protect, not endanger, lives.
This matter demands nothing less than a Judicial Commission of Inquiry led by a sitting or retired High Court judge; a complete forensic audit of medicine procurement processes under state schemes; and identification and prosecution of every official at the procurement, testing, and regulatory levels who allowed this poison to enter public supply lines.
The children of Rajasthan were handed death in the guise of medicine. Their parents were betrayed not only by unscrupulous manufacturers but by the very institutions meant to protect them. Until there is full accountability, justice will remain incomplete, and the safety of Rajasthan’s people will continue to be at risk.
As an elected representative from Rajasthan, I will raise this issue forcefully in the upcoming Parliament session. The nation must hear how negligence, corruption, and complacency killed our children — and why those responsible can no longer hide behind files and committees. The lives lost must become the turning point for accountability in our healthcare system.
The writer is Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
