Ballari deaths: Drugs controller suspended by Siddaramaiah, Bengal-based company to face prosecution

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ordered the suspension of Drugs Controller Dr Umesh S and the prosecution of a West Bengal pharma firm whose 'substandard' Ringer’s lactate is suspected to have caused the deaths of four pregnant women in Ballari. 

Siddaramaiah, who held a meeting with Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and top officials, said the government will provide Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the families of the deceased women. 

"In Ballari, four pregnant women have died (in November). They died during cesarean operations. No death had previously occurred in Ballari during cesarean operations," Siddaramaiah said. 

The CM said the Ringer's lactate is usually given to pregnant women during operation. "Ringer’s lactate was supplied by a company called Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals from West Bengal. It was decided to blacklist this company and that it must be prosecuted," he said, adding that the company will also be made to pay compensation to the families. 

Ringer's lactate is injected to replace water and electrolyte loss in patients with low blood volume or low blood pressure. 

The drugs controller will be suspended for dereliction of duty. 

"We are also initiating departmental inquiry against the managing director of Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd, who will be served with a notice," Siddaramaiah said. "The Ballari district surgeon has been given a warning.”

Apparently, a preliminary inquiry has cleared the doctors who performed surgeries during which the women died. 

It was decided to form a committee under Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner Uma Mahadevan, who is expected to submit a report in seven days on similar deaths, if any, that have occurred in hospitals in other parts of the state. 

'Medicine mafia'

Siddaramaiah discussed taking strict measures against the "medicine mafia", a topic that came up during the meeting. 

"The drugs control department should be restructured. Also, we should emulate the Tamil Nadu model in procuring drugs," Siddaramaiah said, adding that Rao had been tasked with this. 

'2,600 surgeries, no death'

Speaking to reporters, Rao said 2,600 cesarean surgeries had been performed at the Ballari district hospital. "There were no deaths," he said. “But suddenly, four deaths occurred. We suspect the use of a fresh batch of Ringer’s lactate that was used there," he said. 

Rao said the government developed suspicion as early as February-March. "We froze it everywhere. In the tests we did, four batches were found lacking quality. We blacklisted the company, but it got a stay from the court. They also appealed against our tests. The central lab in Kolkata said the samples were fine. Still, we didn’t use it," he explained. 

The minister said the drugs control department got 92 batches tested out of which 22 were found substandard and not used anywhere. "We're suspending the drugs controller as he should have prosecuted the company after finding quality issues with 22 batches," Rao said.