BJP spreading lies about ‘fake medicines’: Delhi Health Minister

NEW DELHI: Amid row over supply of “substandard quality’ drugs in Delhi government hospitals, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the drugs are neither spurious, nor counterfeit as alleged by the BJP. “It was said that 43 samples of medicines were taken from three hospitals of the city government, of these, five samples were declared not of standard quality (NSQ) which does not mean the drug is fake, poisonous or spurious,” the health minister said.

Bhardwaj said calling any medicine fake depends on whether the company producing it is creating medication under a fraudulent name or if the medicine isn’t working for the specified illness or worsening it. “However, there’s no such case with these medications,” he stated.

The Union Home Ministry has ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged supply of substandard medicines in Delhi government hospitals and if the drugs were also distributed through mohalla clinics. The CBI probe was ordered following a recommendation by L-G VK Saxena.

Bhardwaj, giving an example of Pantoprazole, stated that this medicine should contain 40 mg of salt. “In the L-G’s investigation, 42.34 mg of salt were found. The medical science acknowledges that medicines can deviate approx 10% above or below their defined standard without causing harm,” he stated.

He alleged that the saffron party is “spreading rumours” about these drugs being “fake and spurious” though the medicines were “neither spurious nor fake, they just did not meet some of the standards (of testing)”. Responding to the allegations, the BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva questioned why Bhardwaj “remained silent” although he had claimed to have been aware of the issues related to medicines and pathological tests in March 2023 itself.