Rajasthan

It happened again. In early September, a cluster of unexplained child deaths in a small town in Madhya Pradesh sent local health workers scrambling. At least eleven children, aged one to six, had died within days of taking a commonly prescribed cough syrup. Tests of water, food, and even mosquitoes came back normal. The truth, when it emerged, was chilling: the syrup contained nearly half diethylene glycol, a toxic industrial solvent that can trigger fatal kidney failure.

The tragedy was not confined to Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, the deaths of two young children after consuming locally made cough syrup prompted …