West Bengal bans use of medicines linked to Karnataka maternal deaths

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday asked all the hospitals in the state to immediately stop using any medicine manufactured by or procured from Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Limited, a company which first came under the scanner after a spurt in maternal deaths at a medical facility in Karnataka between November 9 and 11 last year.

What prompted the West Bengal government to stop using the medicines supplied by the company was an incident at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) in the state – similar to what had happened in Karnataka.

A woman died and four others turned critically sick after recently delivering babies at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal – allegedly due to the administration of a sub-standard intravenous fluid. The intravenous fluid procured from Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Limited had come under the scanner of the Government of Karnataka after five lactating mothers had died at Ballari Institute of Medical Sciences.

The use of substandard Ringers Lactate solution procured from Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Limited to hydrate the mothers after childbirth was suspected to have caused maternal deaths in both the cases in Karnataka and West Bengal.

The Ringers Lactate is an intravenous (IV) fluid used by doctors to keep patients hydrated. The Government of Karnataka had written to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to review the quality certification issued by the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kolkata, to the intravenous fluid manufactured by the Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Limited.

The company, based in West Bengal, had supplied the Ringers Lactate solution to the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL).

The state government of West Bengal had also put the company under scanner in December 2024. But the intravenous fluid and other medicines supplied by the company continued to be used in the hospitals in West Bengal.

The West Bengal government on Tuesday issued directives to all the hospitals to stop using the intravenous fluids and medicines procured from Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals even if those were still available in the inventory.

The move followed the death of a woman and three others falling critically ill after childbirth in the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital. The West Bengal government on Monday ordered a CID probe into the spurt into the case.