It began quietly on a rainy August afternoon in Madhya Pradesh. It was around 3 pm on August 16, when six-year-old Divyansh Yaduvanshi developed a fever. His temperature read 100 degrees Fahrenheit – mild enough to seem harmless, yet enough to worry his father, Prakash Yaduvanshi, a small farmer from Duddi village in Parasia tehsil of Chhindwara district.

The next morning, Prakash took his son to Dr Pravin Soni in Parasia, about five to six kilometres from their village. A well-known child specialist, Dr Soni’s clinic was the first stop for most parents in the region. After a brief examination, he prescribed Indiclav tablets and a cold syrup named Coldrif – to be given twice and four times a day, respectively.

No one in this quiet corner of the country could have imagined that the syrup

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