The Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has demanded an investigation into the affairs of Kerala State Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL), in the light of the CAG report, which found that date-expired medicines had been supplied to government hospitals by KMSCL.
It is shocking to learn that KMSCL had supplied date-expired drugs to 26 government hospitals (CAG finding), which amounts to a criminal offence, as it put the lives of patients at risk. Hence stringent action should be taken against those responsible for this, Mr. Satheesan said in a statement here on Saturday
He said that when the Opposition had pointed out again and again that there was acute drug shortage in government hospitals, the Health Minister had dismissed it as humbug. The CAG’s finding that between 2017 and 2022, only a small proportion of the indented drugs were supplied by KMSCL, justifies what the Opposition had been saying all along.
The CAG report further says that KMSCL had made many purchases throwing to wind the statutory norm that medicines supplied should have a shelf life of 75% and that drug manufacturers who violate this norm should be penalised.
Mr. Satheesan said that the CAG report adds fuel to the speculation that the three fires which occurred in the godowns of KMSCL were not an accident but a deliberate commission to hide the irregularities in drug purchase and the stocking of date-expired drugs
In the light of CAG’s findings, the government should conduct a serious and comprehensive investigation into all murky deals made by the Health department and KMSCL during the COVID period, Mr. Satheesan demanded.
