In Depth: Why China’s Regulators Have Cough Medicine in Their Sights 

The first time that 15-year-old Ye Lu took a dozen doses of an over-the-counter cough medicine containing DXM he felt nauseous and dizzy and lay in bed all afternoon. He took the medication after his friends told him that a few pills would make him happy when he was feeling low.

The next day, Ye took another 14 tablets. After a few more days of taking well beyond the recommended dosage of one to two at a time, he experienced a “floating” sensation described by his friends and began to spend all his spare money on buying the pills easily accessible from pharmacies.