The highly visible tragedy of children helplessly dying in several places after consuming contaminated Made in India cough syrup has periodically exposed the scandalous state of pharma safety. Ranging from Uzbekistan to Madhya Pradesh, young victims perished as their kidneys and livers collapsed due to the presence of diethylene glycol, a contaminant in the syrup which an indifferent system of regulation and quality control did not correct over decades. The crisis prompted the Supreme Court to admonish the pharma sector recently, asking if it was aware of the harm to the country’s reputation caused by the pursuit of easy lucre. Now, in response, the union government has prohibited the sale of cough syrup without a doctor’s prescription in an........

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