Three states have banned the sale and distribution of Coldrif cough syrup after at least eight children died after consuming it in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, India Today reported.

The cough syrup was first banned in Tamil Nadu, with Madhya Pradesh and Kerala following suit.

At least eight children, aged between one and seven, died in the past month in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The authorities have suspected cough syrup poisoning as the common cause.

After the deaths, the Madhya Pradesh government had asked authorities in Tamil Nadu to look into the safety of the cough syrup. On October 2, a report by the Tamil Nadu director of drug control found that samples of Coldrif cough syrup manufactured at a plant of Sresan Pharmaceuticals in the state’s Kancheepuram district were found to be “NSQ”, or non-standard or defective.

The report said that the samples contained 48.6% diethylene glycol, which can cause acute kidney and liver failure.

The Tamil Nadu government banned the sale of cough syrup from October 1 following reports about the deaths of children allegedly linked to it, India Today reported.

On Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh government also banned the sale and distribution of the Coldrif cough syrup. Officials have been directed to collect additional samples of the syrup from the state and send them by hand to government laboratories for analysis. The government also said that any other batches of the cough syrup in the market must be seized and frozen.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George also said on Saturday that the state has suspended the sale and distribution of the cough syrup as a precautionary measure, NDTV reported. The minister said that although the batch in question was not being distributed in Kerala, the government decided to take action as “abundance of caution”.

In the wake of the deaths, the Directorate General of Health Services on Friday issued an advisory to all states and Union Territories, reiterating the “judicious prescribing and dispensing” of cough syrups for children.

The department, which reports to the Union health ministry, said that most “acute cough illnesses in children are self-limiting and resolve without pharmacological intervention”, adding that cough and cold medications should not be prescribed for children under two years.

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