Thiruvananthapyram, 23 Oct (H.S.): Keralam will provide only an Indian-made generic medicine to patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and discontinue medicines supplied by foreign companies, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said, dismissing concerns over the treatment’s safety.

The minister said specialists had endorsed the medicine and doctors were speaking directly to parents to explain its benefits and address apprehensions. He suggested that foreign pharmaceutical companies might be behind the controversy, without presenting evidence.

Expert committee chairman Dr. Viswanathan said imported medicines had been provided when an Indian alternative was unavailable. He maintained that the Indian medicine had been tested successfully and that the words “clinical trial” on its packaging should not cause alarm.

Muraleedharan said instructions to return the medicine were intended to clear doubts among families and did not reflect any loss of confidence in its reliability.

He questioned the apprehensions surrounding a medicine that, according to him, the Supreme Court had directed authorities to provide. Treatment decisions were based on expert medical advice, he added.

“The minister is not an MBBS doctor, but there are expert doctors. How can their assessment be questioned?” he asked.

He said parents had been informed about the medicine’s benefits before it was administered and blamed some media reports for fuelling anxiety. He also maintained that protocols governed doctors’ public communication.

The minister said ₹50 crore remained payable to a company that supplied medicines in 2024.

Turning to political criticism, he alleged that the CPI(M) received ₹1 crore from Natco in 2023–24 and ₹50,000 in 2024–25, citing Election Commission records.

He criticised former health ministers who had jointly opposed him, while saying he respected them.

Muraleedharan said Vigilance would investigate alleged irregularities in medicine procurement over the past decade. He ruled out any other inquiry, asserting that the government would proceed on the advice of medical specialists.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman