Dhaka, Oct. 9 -- It's happening again. In early September, a cluster of unexplained child deaths in a small town in Madhya Pradesh sent local health workers scrambling.
At least 19 victims - aged one to six - had died within weeks of taking a common cough syrup. Officials tested everything from drinking water to mosquitoes before the truth emerged: their kidneys had failed.
Weeks later, a state laboratory in the southern city of Chennai confirmed the worst. The syrup in question contained 48.6per cent diethylene glycol, a toxic industrial solvent that should never be found in medicine. Kidney failure is common after consuming this poisonous alcohol.
The horror wasn't confined to Madhya Pradesh. In neighbouring Rajasthan state, the deaths...