Kerala Nipah Drug Row: Minister Suspects Clinical Trial Medicine Was Also Supplied During Vijayan Regime

(MENAFN- IANS) Kozhikode, Oct 30 (IANS) Kerala Health Minister, K. Muraleedharan, on Friday raised fresh questions over the medicines supplied to Nipah patients in the state during former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's regime, saying there were doubts whether a drug meant for clinical trials had also been administered to patients and that some medicines supplied lacked manufacturing dates.

Speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, Muraleedharan said a comprehensive investigation had been ordered based on information provided by the Superintendent of Kozhikode Medical College.

The enquiry would also examine the foreign pharmaceutical companies involved in the supply, the intermediaries who facilitated the transactions and the financial benefits they received.

The latest revelations follow the Minister's disclosure in the Assembly on Thursday that Remdesivir purchased in 2021, with an expiry date of May 30, 2023, was suspected to have been used in subsequent years.

The Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSCL) had purchased 3,000 vials of the drug on June 3, 2021, at a cost of Rs 42 lakh.

Records from Kozhikode Medical College showed that 102 vials were used in 2023-24, 34 in 2024-25 and 10 in 2025-26.

The Minister said the 50 vials used in 2026 were separately procured from Bahrain on June 12, 2026.

A medical board headed by Dr R. Aravind, head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, has been constituted to examine whether the suspected use of expired medicines was linked to patient deaths and whether other recipients suffered adverse effects.

Muraleedharan also said the letter sent to him by Leader of the Opposition, Pinarayi Vijayan, had only cautioned against giving cheaper medicines to patients and contained no reference to clinical trials or expired drugs.

He said the government would take appropriate action after the investigation brought out all the facts. Incidentally this took place when former Pinarayi Vijayan headed the state from 2016-26.

MENAFN30102026000231011071ID1111889122