Low-cost SMA drugs given on expert panel's recommendation: Minister K Muraleedharan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Wednesday said low-cost, Indian-made medicines for children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) were being provided on the recommendation of an expert committee that had found the drugs to be of good quality. Muraleedharan said the decision to introduce the medicines was taken during the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's tenure to ensure that more patients could access treatment at a lower cost.

“Based on an expert committee's finding that Indian-made medicines are of good quality, the government decided to provide them to patients. There have been no complaints about the medicines. However, people still have greater faith in foreign medicines than in low-cost Indian-made varieties,” he told reporters. The minister said there was a difference of several lakhs of rupees between the prices of the two medicines. He added that the government would consider any contrary opinion from expert doctors.

Responding to concerns over medicines labelled ‘doctor's sample’ and ‘for clinical trials’ being administered to children with SMA, Muraleedharan said the government had not received any written complaints on the issue. He said he had seen a Facebook post by Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan raising concerns over the matter. If Vijayan submitted a written complaint, the government would investigate it, the minister said. “For now, the Indian-made medicines will continue to be provided as their quality has not been questioned,” he added.

Vijayan had expressed shock in a Facebook post on Tuesday over reports that experimental drugs intended for SMA clinical trials had been administered to children with the condition without their parents' consent. He had demanded strict action against those responsible. Former state Health Minister K K Shailaja, meanwhile, said the new medicines were being administered in cases where patients had shown significant changes while receiving the earlier drugs.

She said the labelling on the medicine packaging, which reportedly described the products as ‘doctor's sample’ and ‘for clinical trials’, had caused apprehension among parents. “It is dangerous to administer medicines carrying such labels to toddlers. Testing on children below 12 years of age is prohibited under the law,” Shailaja said, calling for an immediate examination of the matter. Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a rare inherited genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and muscle wasting.