Drugs quality control division at KMSCL dismantled

The quality control division at Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) has been dismantled and the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the drugs purchased by the KMSCL will be entrusted to the State Drugs Control department, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said here on Thursday.

The move comes after it has been found that a large share of medicines procured and distributed through the KMSCL in the past had failed to meet quality standards, a statement issued by the office of the Health Minister said.

Medicines worth crores of rupees had been found to be substandard in this manner. There were also complaints that having KMSCL’s own quality control division inspecting the medicines that the firm procures left much scope for corruption, the statement said.