Patralekha Chatterjee | Is India’s Reputation in Pharma Starting to Fray?

Deaths in Madhya Pradesh highlight recurring lapses, weak regulation, and unequal access to safe medicines

xThree-year-old Usaid’s last words, “Anaar ka meetha daana”, a nursery rhyme, trailed off unfinished. He died hours later, one of several children in rural Madhya Pradesh, under five, killed by a cough syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic industrial solvent. The poison spread through supply chains, claiming around two dozen young lives.

India had a great story to tell. In the early 2000s, Cipla’s breakthrough in HIV treatment and low-cost antiretroviral (ARV) drugs positioned Indian pharma as a saviour of the Global South. That narrative is now strained by repeated contamination incidents and fatalities. These recurring tragedies expose deep regulatory gaps and s