‘Drug mafia behind maternal deaths’: Cong targets govt over conflicting claims

Jaipur: Contradictory statements from Rajasthan’s health minister and the state’s drug regulator over the deaths of five women after childbirth in Kota last month have triggered a political row after similar cases surfaced in Bikaner the past fortnight, with the opposition Congress accusing the Bhajan Lal Sharma govt of failing to ensure drug safety in govt hospitals.

The controversy comes even as six women at Bikaner’s PBM Hospital continue to battle serious kidney-related complications after deliveries, putting the state’s maternal healthcare system under scrutiny.

Health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar Tuesday claimed that injections administered to women after caesarean deliveries in Kota contained “nothing but water”, suggesting that fake or substandard medicines may have entered the govt supply chain. The remarks came amid an investigation into the deaths of five postpartum women at Kota’s JK Lon Hospital last month.

However, Drug Controller T Shubhamangala offered a different explanation to the media persons Wednesday. She said the investigation found that the quantity of the active ingredient in the injection was zero, but maintained that the injection itself could not have caused the deaths and that it was intended to prevent postpartum haemorrhage (PPH).

The conflicting statements have raised questions over what exactly was administered to the women, how the drugs cleared quality checks and whether there were lapses in procurement and monitoring.

Congressman and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas seized on the issue Wednesday, alleging that the health minister’s remarks amounted to an admission of failure. “If the minister himself says women were injected with medicines that contained nothing but water, then the govt must explain how such medicines reached hospitals and who is responsible,” Khachariyawas said.

Alleging the existence of a “drug mafia” within the health system, he claimed a detailed probe would expose a money trail worth crores of rupees. “This appears to be a case of murder caused by corruption and collusion. The chief minister and the health minister should take moral responsibility,” he said, demanding criminal action against those found responsible.