Kerala Shifts KMSCL Medicine Quality Testing to Drugs Control Department Amid Substandard Drug Concerns
Thiruvananthapuram: The Keralam government has discontinued the Medical Services Corporation's quality control wing and entrusted the Drugs Control Department with testing the medicines it procures.
The decision was taken against the backdrop of several instances in which medicines procured and distributed through Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd were found to be substandard, involving drugs worth crores of rupees, state Health Minister K Muraleedharan said on Thursday.
There had been complaints that having KMSCL's own quality control wing test medicines procured by the Corporation could create scope for corruption, the minister said in a statement.
The existing quality assurance mechanism for medicines procured through KMSCL needed to be strengthened, he said.
The Drugs Control Department has the statutory powers, technical expertise and regulatory responsibility required to ensure the quality of medicines, Muraleedharan said.
In view of the shortage of personnel in the department, permission has also been granted to appoint staff on a temporary contractual basis to ensure efficient and timely quality testing, he said.
All medicines procured through KMSCL will be examined by the Drugs Control Department and subjected to necessary quality checks before being supplied to government hospitals and other government institutions, according to the minister.
The decision is aimed at making the quality testing of medicines more transparent, Muraleedharan said. He has written to the Principal Secretary of the Health Department in this regard.
