Thiruvananthapuram: CPM has intensified its attack on health minister K Muraleedharan over the controversy surrounding the supply of an Indian-made generic drug to children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), with three former health ministers of the LDF govt questioning the decision and demanding accountability.P K Sreemathy, who served as health minister in the V S Achuthanandan govt, demanded an investigation into the alleged links between Muraleedharan and pharmaceutical companies. Along with former health ministers K K Shailaja and Veena George, she questioned the decision to supply a generic version of the SMA drug manufactured by Natco Pharma, whose representatives had met the minister in the presence of the SAT Hospital superintendent.The former ministers alleged that the circumstances surrounding the decision warranted scrutiny. They also expressed concern over reports that medicines supplied to some patients carried the label “For Clinical Trials Only”, raising questions about their safety and regulatory status.Sreemathy alleged that state’s healthcare sector had been facing a serious crisis since the UDF govt assumed office. She defended the previous LDF govt’s healthcare policies, claiming that it had ensured free medicines for patients and that medicine shortages had not been a major concern during the previous decade.She also questioned the procedures followed by the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) in procuring medicines. Sreemathi said procurement through tenders was handled by officials, including the health department principal secretary, and ministers did not have a direct role in the process. She alleged that established norms governing interactions between ministers and pharmaceutical companies had been disregarded.The controversy centres on the state govt’s decision to provide a lower-cost Indian-made generic version of risdiplam, used to treat SMA, as an alternative to the expensive imported medicine.Meanwhile, SAT Hospital superintendent R S Riyas rejected allegations linking Natco Pharma’s assistance to the hospital with the drug controversy. He said the company’s Rs 25 lakh contribution was intended to renovate Ward 14, an isolation ward for children with infectious diseases.Riyas said the previous superintendent of the hospital had requested corporate social responsibility (CSR) assistance from Natco on March 25. The company released the first instalment after its representatives visited the hospital and assessed the facilities.Riyas said company representatives visited the health minister in the first week of Aug to hand over a certificate related to the assistance. A photograph from the interaction was now being circulated to suggest that the meeting was connected to the SMA drug controversy, he alleged.SATHHES, a society functioning under the hospital, receives CSR contributions to improve patient facilities and support healthcare-related development activities. Riyas said such contributions were routinely handed over in the presence of ministers or the chief minister.
