What led to deaths after C-section surgeries in Kota hospitals | Explained
Five women died in Rajasthan hospitals after receiving spurious oxytocin injections that contained no active medicine. The World Health Organization and Indian regulators have intervened to investigate the supply chain and manufacturing licenses involved.
Why it matters
This incident underscores critical failures in medical supply chain oversight and the life-threatening consequences of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
The story so far: Five women who underwent Caesarean section (C-section) surgeries died across two government hospitals in Rajasthan’s Kota earlier this year, reportedly days after they were administered oxytocin injections.
Laboratory tests revealed that vials from a specific batch contained no active medicine, merely water, thus offering no protection from postpartum haemorrhage or bleeding that it is purposed for.
After the deaths in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) sought information from the Government of India on the alleged supply of spurious oxytocin injections to government hospitals in Kota by a pharma distributor. Meanwhile, the manufacturing licences of the pharma units of Jackson Laboratories in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh were cancelled following joint inspections by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the respective State drug regulators.
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