MANY lives could have been saved had the Directorate General of Drug Administration acted efficiently in 1991, said the verdict in a drug adulteration trial, reported a local daily. This is the first-ever conviction for drug adulteration in the country. A study by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) suggests as many as 2,700 children died from adulterated Paracetamol syrup between 1982 and 1992.
But it is difficult to determine how many lives were lost between 1991 and 1992, thanks to the unavailability of documents. About a dozen families lost children in 1992. In July 1991, the then DGDA drug superintendent, Abul Khair Chowdhury, had collected samples of several syrup brands from Shishu Hospital, and had them tested at the Mohakhali government laboratory the same month. One of the tested samples was Adflame-produced Flammadol of batch No 06090. The test found nothing suspicious. But in another test a year later, Flammadol of the same batch was proven tainted with toxic diethylene glycol.
Regarding the 1991 test, the then Shishu Hospital Director Brig. Moksul Hossain Chowdhury was quoted in the judgment as saying, “Toxicity of the medicine was not examined.” The drug was not tested for determining whether it contained the substance causing deaths, he added. The 1991 test had come after child kidney specialist Dr Mohammad Hanif rang the alarm over adulterated drugs. “The kidney failure was suffered by those who had consumed Paracetamol syrup,” Hanif mentioned in his testimony in court, citing reports published in national and international media at that time.”Definitely we did not send the Paracetamol syrup samples just for routine tests to identify the ingredients,”. Hanif , in a reaction to the 1991 drug test mentioned in the judgment said, “Rather, it should have been a toxicity test.”
We see from the chain of events which have unfolded that the first-ever conviction for drug adulteration in the country occurred due to the diligence, honesty, and willpower of one lone individual – Dr Mohammad Hanif. This is in itself is a denunciation of our regulatory authorities who have the power to decide which medicines are contaminated or substandard. The DGDA should have been more alert to the case of the suspicious deaths of children due to renal failure.
Unfortunately in this country we need a lone crusader to get anything done – in any sector where imbalances exist, whether it be the environment, road accidents, or in this case the pharmaceutical sector. The various organograms of the government have no interest in carrying out their responsibilities to ensure that the regulations of the government are followed. This results in launch and road accidents, environmental degradation, buildings collapsing over other buildings, and last but not least, the deaths of children. When will they take their jobs seriously?
