Tags:
Journalism of Courage
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, August 8: Nestor Pharmaceuticals, which has been charged with supplying sub-standard ampicillin to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, leading to patients developing Pyrexia (shivering) last year, has demanded a judicial probe into the issue. The State Government has been accused of delay in acting on the Finance Department’s recommendation that the firm be blacklisted. However, Nestor MD Rahul Sehgal, brushing aside the findings of Central Drugs Testing Laboratory, Calcutta, that the ampicillin was sub-standard, and that the actual quantities in the vials did not match the figures printed on the labels, alleged that the vials had been tampered with at the hospital before they were sent for testing. He claimed that the storage conditions and water used to prepare the injections may have caused the reaction in patients. However, MCH Superintendent Dr P C Kesavan Kutty Nair said the hospital had the latest storage system. Also, ampicillin injections manufactured by another firm, when administered using the same make of syringes and distilled water, were reaction-free.
