Stapler Pin Found in Tablet: Consumer Court Orders Two Pharma Firms to Pay Rs 1 Lakh

New Delhi: In an alarming incident highlighting lapses in pharmaceutical quality control, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered two drug manufacturing companies to collectively compensate a 74-year-old resident with Rs 1 lakh after a harmful foreign object was discovered inside a pain-relief tablet he had ingested.

According to a recent media report in the Hindustan Times, the directive was recently issued by commission president Sanjeev Batra, along with member Monika Bhagat, instructing the companies to release the compensation within 30 days. If the firms fail to comply, the amount will accrue interest at an annual rate of 8 percent from the date of the order.

The complainant, a retired district attorney dealing with several age-related medical conditions, had purchased ORO Plus tablets from a neighborhood pharmacy in September 2022. On one occasion, after consuming a tablet, he suddenly experienced choking, difficulty in breathing, and a sharp rise in blood pressure when an object became stuck in his throat. His family immediately performed abdominal thrusts, which led to the tablet being expelled, revealing a stapler pin lodged inside.

The commission recorded that the episode resulted in bodily harm, intense panic and serious mental distress for the complainant. The medication in question was produced by Kaalinga Pharmaceuticals and distributed by Primula Pharmaceuticals. The retailer who sold the medicine was subsequently included as a respondent in the case.

During the proceedings, the chemist maintained that the medicine had been sold in its original sealed condition, whereas the pharmaceutical companies were unable to convincingly explain how such a defect could have occurred. One of the firms also chose not to participate in the legal proceedings.

After examining the retrieved tablet, the commission concluded that the product posed a grave threat to the complainant’s life and safety.

Invoking the product liability provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the commission held both the manufacturer and the marketer liable, noting that the complainant had suffered clear harm due to a manufacturing defect.

Hindustan Times reports that the commission further observed that the companies neither carried out an independent investigation nor initiated a recall of the affected batch to safeguard other consumers.

The chemist was absolved of liability, with the commission noting that there was no evidence of negligence or tampering at the retail stage and that the medicine had been sold in an intact, sealed package.

The commission remarked that prompt action by the complainant’s family prevented a potentially fatal outcome and emphasized the importance of protecting consumers from defective and dangerous pharmaceutical products.