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Four children have died and more than 35 people have fallen ill across Rajasthan.
Families allege a cough syrup from government hospitals caused the deaths.
The syrup, containing dextromethorphan hydrobromide, has been banned statewide.
Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar insists the deaths were unrelated to the drug.
The supplier, Kaysons Pharma, had previously failed quality tests but was reinstated.
A series of child deaths in Rajasthan has sparked outrage and allegations of collusion between state health officials and a pharmaceutical supplier, after families claimed a cough syrup distributed under a government scheme caused the fatalities.
Anas, the six-year-old son of Nawab Khan, a donkey-cart puller from Sunaaron Ka Kuan Mohalla in Churu, died at JK Lon Hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan’s largest children’s hospital, on October 4, 2025. He had been referred from the Churu District Hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment since October 2 for cough and cold.
When his condition worsened, doctors referred him to Jaipur, where he reached around 4 am on October 4. He died six hours later, at 10 am. His family alleges that doctors in Churu had administered dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup to him, and that his health deteriorated sharply after taking it.
Four children have died in Rajasthan after reportedly being given the same syrup, while the state government has denied that the medicine caused the deaths. At a press conference, Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said that the families had given the children “medicine stored at home” and that this had worsened their condition.
Following Anas’s death, JK Lon Hospital Superintendent Dr RN Sera said that initial investigations indicated the child had meningitis and had been brought to the hospital in a “very critical condition”.
Previously, two deaths were reported from Bharatpur district, one from Sikar district and one from Churu, all allegedly linked to the same syrup. Anas from Churu was the most recent death on October 4, taking the tally to four. Across the state, more than 35 people have fallen ill with similar complaints.
According to interviews by this reporter with the family and local residents, Anas and his 60-year-old grandmother, Bano, visited Churu District Hospital on October 2 complaining of cough and cold. The doctor on duty in the emergency ward allegedly prescribed dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup to both of them, along with other medicines.
After consuming the syrup, Anas’s condition worsened while Bano remained unaffected. Anas, the youngest of three siblings, was admitted to the hospital later that day. When his condition did not improve, he was referred to JK Lon Hospital in Jaipur on October 4.
Down To Earth obtained a copy of his referral card, which records “pneumonia” and, according to the family, an infection caused by dextromethorphan hydrobromide. The referral was signed by Dr Sudhir Soni.
Repeated attempts by the publication to contact Churu Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Manoj Sharma were unsuccessful, as his phone remained unreachable.
The deaths in Rajasthan have followed the deaths of 14 children in Madhya Pradesh allegedly linked to contaminated cough syrup. The Rajasthan government has since banned the distribution and sale of dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup and all 19 of its formulations.
These medicines are distributed in the state under the Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme. Drug Controller (II) Rajaram Sharma has been suspended in connection with the case.
Media reports have identified the victims as two-year-old Samrat of Malah village in Bharatpur, two-year-old Tirthraj of Vaira, and five-year-old Nityans of Khori Brahmanan village in Sikar. Families of all three children have alleged that cough syrup provided by government hospitals caused their deaths.
On October 4, Khimsar addressed a press conference in Jodhpur, reiterating that the deaths were not caused by the cough syrup. He stated that in the case of Tirthraj, records at JK Lon Hospital did not show the administration of dextromethorphan hydrobromide.
Khimsar said: “Tirthraj, a resident of Luhasa in Bharatpur, was brought to the sub-district hospital in Vaira by his family after he developed a cough and cold. The doctor prescribed amoxicillin, anti-cold syrup, and ambroxol. When his condition did not improve, he was taken to Bharatpur and then to JK Lon Hospital in Jaipur on September 27, where he died. JK Lon has no record of dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup being given.”
He made a similar statement regarding Samrat from Malah village, saying the child died of acute respiratory distress syndrome. As for the Sikar case, he said the doctor’s prescription did not mention the name of the syrup administered at the Hathideh Primary Health Centre, which was instead dispensed by a pharmacist, Pappu Soni.
When questioned by journalists about the government’s “clean chit”, Khimsar said the matter would be reinvestigated.
In Rajasthan, a company called Kaysons Pharma supplies dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup under the Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme. A syrup batch from this company reportedly failed testing six months ago. On February 21, 2025, the product was banned for one year but later reinstated quietly.
Between 2021 and 2023, 40 samples from Kaysons Pharma reportedly failed in 10 districts. The company faced a 19-month ban, but after the ban was lifted, it was not blacklisted and resumed supplying medicines to the government. The decision has led to allegations that the Rajasthan Health Department shielded the company.
The Dainik Bhaskar newspaper has reported that changes in the interpretation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, by the state’s Food Safety and Drug Controller Department have weakened oversight.
Under the original rules, any medicine missing an active salt was classified as “fake”. But under the modified definition, such drugs are no longer automatically labelled counterfeit, effectively allowing pharmaceutical firms to escape harsher penalties.