Health Minister K Muraleedharan Deflects Questions Over Change in Life-Saving SMA Medication

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan has failed to address the concerns raised by parents of children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a serious genetic disorder, over the replacement of their life-saving medication. Responding to media questions about SMA drugs, the minister said he would discuss the matter in the Assembly. He also claimed that the doctors treating the children had already addressed the concerns and that no parents had brought any complaints to his attention.

The minister had also defended the decision to administer medicines bearing clinical trial labels to children without their parents’ consent. The medicines distributed to the children were supplied by Natco Pharma and labelled “Physicians Samples: Clinical Trials Only”.

The Health Department’s order on drug procurement stipulates that medicines must be officially procured and distributed only through the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL). However, the medicines given to the patients were not supplied through KMSCL. Distributing samples provided by pharmaceutical companies to doctors to patients constitutes a serious lapse. The minister has offered what critics describe as a casual justification for the decision.

The previous LDF government had decided to provide risdiplam, a medicine costing lakhs of rupees, free of charge, keeping the future of children with SMA in mind. The UDF government, however, decided to provide a cheaper drug, a move critics have accused of treating people with SMA as guinea pigs.