Published Jun 07, 2026 | 5:39 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 07, 2026 | 5:39 PM
Dr Sivaranjani Santosh. Credit: x.com/dr_sivaranjani
Synopsis: The Indian Academy of Paediatrics has accepted the resignation of Hyderabad-based paediatrician Dr Sivaranjani Santosh, who has campaigned for years against the marketing of high-sugar electrolyte drinks as Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). Following her departure, she has called on the National Medical Commission and the Union Health Ministry to investigate the sale and promotion of ORSL and ERZL, as well as the presence of Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson stalls at PEDICON, the IAP’s annual conference.
The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) has accepted the resignation of Dr Sivaranjani Santosh, the Hyderabad-based paediatrician who spent more than eight years campaigning against high-sugar electrolyte drinks marketed as Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS).
She submitted her resignation on 11 April after receiving a legal notice from Kenvue, the company that manufactures ORSL and its successor product, ERZL, and after the IAP released a position statement that Dr Santosh alleged was shaped by pharmaceutical industry influence.
With her membership formally ended, Santosh says she is no longer under any obligation to hold back.
“Finally, my resignation from the IAP has been accepted, thankfully,” she wrote on social media. “So far, I had to show some restraint before calling the leadership out for their pathetic slavery to pharma. Now, I am under no obligation to show that restraint.”
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Dr Santosh has now appealed directly to both the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), urging them to examine how Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue were permitted to set up stalls at PEDICON, the IAP’s flagship annual conference, for years despite her repeated objections.
She is also calling on authorities to investigate the “dangerous deception” of marketing ORSL as ORS in schools, pharmacies, and hospitals across the country.
Dr Santosh alleged that children were hospitalised after their diarrhoea worsened because of the high sugar content of these drinks.
ORS, as specified by the World Health Organization, is a precise formulation of salts and glucose used to treat dehydration in children with diarrhoea. She said ORSL and its successor, ERZL, are electrolyte beverages that contain significantly more sugar and also include sucralose, an artificial sweetener.
Dr Santosh said the naming and marketing of these products have systematically blurred the distinction between the two, causing parents and healthcare workers to substitute one for the other.
Dr Santosh told South First that there was a pattern of apparent institutional inaction spanning years and three IAP presidencies.
She said she had written to former state presidents Dr Vasanth and Dr Basavaraj, and to current president Dr Neelam Mohan, on multiple occasions. There was no response and no escalation to the central health ministry.
When ORSL was relaunched as ERZL with only minor changes, she said she raised the issue again with Mohan. She was told the matter would be looked into. Instead, she received a legal notice from Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson PTE Limited.
Around the same time, Kenvue was claiming on social media that its scientific products had been presented at PEDICON. Dr Santosh says this was misleading.
“The trade area is separate. They had essentially paid money to put up a stall. That is not called a presentation,” she added.
She asked the IAP president to condemn both the company’s claim and the legal notice sent to her. She then announced a press conference. Just before it was due to take place, she says, a senior paediatrician called her on behalf of the president and told her the IAP would stand behind her.
“But they cheated me. The only reason that happened was to stop me from speaking to the press about the IAP. That same evening, I received a message saying a committee was being formed. Instead of saying they were condemning the notice sent to me, they said they were forming a committee. So they cheated me, basically,” she said.
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The committee eventually released a position statement, which Dr Santosh termed “disgusting”. It stated that ORS is for diarrhoea, while electrolyte drinks can be used for other purposes.
Dr Santosh objected to the statement singling out sucralose among non-nutritive sweeteners and describing it as safe for use, without warning parents about the potential risks associated with giving sucralose-containing drinks to children daily.
ERZL is the only product in this category on the Indian market that contains sucralose, which Dr Santosh and others argue makes the statement appear targeted at a specific product rather than providing general guidance.
She also pointed to a broader paediatric consensus. Multiple bodies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, advise against the routine daily use of artificial sweeteners in children because of potential long-term health concerns.
“Kenvue was posting on social media, through ERZL, that paediatricians say sucralose is okay. Sucralose is not okay for daily consumption by children,” she said.
Since her resignation was accepted, Dr Santosh has alleged that members of the president’s inner circle have been spreading claims that she earns money from social media and that her campaign is motivated by a desire for publicity.
“That is nonsense. I am probably the last person to earn money from social media. I do this only for awareness and for my own peace of mind,” she said.
Dr Santosh’s campaign has not gone without consequence for the products she has been challenging. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has previously taken note of misleading claims surrounding similar products, an outcome several observers have attributed to advocacy of the kind Dr Santosh has carried out.
Her next step, she said, is to continue speaking publicly about what she alleges are the facts of the case, unfettered by any institutional obligation to remain silent.
She also questioned the validity of the IAP’s position statement, pointing out that it appeared to be unsigned.
“Realised just now that it has not even been signed. So, is it even valid?” she asked.
