{
  "id": 3226806,
  "title": "Why has the Centre barred certain cold medicines for children under four?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/why-has-the-centre-barred-certain-cold-medicines-for-children-under",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-25T08:23:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Mint",
    "slug": "live-mint",
    "url": "https://www.livemint.com/news/india/centre-restricts-cough-cold-medicines-children-under-four-11787628953418.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has placed restrictions on the production, sale, and distribution of certain cold medicines for children under four years old, affecting India's ₹4,500 crore market for cough, cold, and allergy products. Priyanka Sharma, a journalist at Mint, reports that the restriction targets fixed-dose combinations containing chlorpheniramine maleate and phenylephrine hydrochloride, which are commonly used to treat the common cold in infants and young children. The policy change aims to safeguard the health of young children, whose immune systems are still developing, by limiting exposure to these medications.",
  "summary": "The regulatory action follows safety recommendations from an expert committee and the Drugs Technical Advisory Board.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}