Is Corex banned in India?

Corex is the name most Indians associate with codeine cough syrup, and its legal history spans three separate orders.

Pfizer's original Corex combined chlorpheniramine maleate, an antihistamine, with codeine phosphate, an opioid cough suppressant. On 10 March 2016 the Health Ministry banned this combination along with 343 other FDCs. Pfizer obtained interim relief from the Delhi High Court on 14 March 2016, and on 1 December 2016 the court quashed the whole wave because the Drugs Technical Advisory Board had not been consulted. On appeal, the Supreme Court on 15 December 2017 sent the list back to the Board but excluded combinations licensed before 1988, which included the codeine syrups. They were therefore not in the 328-FDC re-ban of September 2018 and remained on sale as products "under examination".

That examination ended on 2 June 2023, when the ministry prohibited 14 FDCs on the expert committee's advice. CDSCO's list of the 14 prohibited FDCs shows "chlorpheniramine maleate + codeine syrup" at S.O. 2398(E) of 2 Jun 2023.

Two High Courts have recently differed in emphasis on codeine syrup prosecutions. On 1 September 2026 the Allahabad High Court held that codeine syrup held for non-medicinal use counts as a narcotic under the NDPS Act. In Bharat Kumar v. State of Bihar, reported on 21 October 2026, a single judge of the Patna High Court held that cough syrups with codeine "within the permissible limits should be dealt with under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act", criticised police for "routinely registering cases" under NDPS, and granted bail. These are rulings on how cases are charged; neither changes the 2023 ban.

Corex DX (dextromethorphan + chlorpheniramine) and Corex T (codeine + triprolidine) are different licences. Neither is covered by the 2023 order, but Corex T, as a codeine product, is Schedule H1 and prescription-only.