New Delhi: A batch of cough syrup bottles, with July 2026 as its expiry date, distributed among flood victims in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district by the state health department has created a political controversy. Some local residents who administered the syrup to a family member have complained of fever and nausea.According to a report in India Today, on September 7, a team from UP’s health department had distributed cough syrup bottles to at least 20 families in Kanpur’s Mayapuram area. The distribution of medicines was part of an initiative by the state government to help victims of floods in the Pandu River which have affected 40,000 people in parts of Kanpur and Kanpur Dehat.While speaking to news channels, local resident Meena Bi told reporters, “Soon after I gave cough syrup to my son, he was down with fever and complained of dysentery. When we took him to the doctor that’s how it came to our notice that medicine was administered after its expiry date.”“Twenty-four hours later, that team [from the state health department] returned, asking us to return the cough syrup bottle in lieu of Rs 100. Of what use would this money have been if something had happened to my child?” Meena Bi said.The cough syrup distributed among Mayapuram residents were 50-ml bottles of Trimethoprim and Sulphamethoxazole Oral Suspension IP, with a label of the Uttar Pradesh government, and had been manufactured by Maxchem Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur. The label on the back of the bottle stated the manufacturing date as August 2024 while its expiry date was mentioned as July 2026.Speaking to reporters, another local woman named Nanki said, “Ever since this medicine was distributed, I have had a fever. I really don’t know what happened, but my grandson is also down with a fever.”Kanpur Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Hari Dutt Nemi, however, denied allegations regarding distribution of the cough syrup by the state health department. Speaking to the media in Kanpur, he said, “When we conducted an examination of our drug warehouse, it was confirmed that the said medicine was part of our stock in July 2025 and was distributed via some Community Health Centres depending on demand. But the medicine distributed recently is neither part of our stock nor is the said batch number part of the current stock.”Nemi also denied claims regarding money offered by the health department officials in return for the cough syrup bottle. The Wire tried contacting CMO Hari Dutt Nemi regarding allegations by Meena Bi and Nanki but our calls went unanswered.Meanwhile the Congress party took to X taking a dig at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for its ‘deadly syrup’.“This is not the first time that such a thing has happened. Earlier illegal codeine cough syrup was also being sold right under the nose of this very government and the system was sleeping”, stated the official Twitter handle of Congress.In December 2025, raids were carried out at multiple locations by the UP Police in connection with the alleged Rs 1000 crore illegal codeine-based cough syrup scam. Congress spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate, had earlier alleged that the main accused, Shubham Jaiswal, had close links with Dhananjay Singh, national general secretary of the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the ruling party.