Tamil Nadu Government Shifts Blame To AIADMK Over Drug Test Shortfalls

The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has blamed the previous AIADMK regime for the shortfall in drug tests flagged by central auditors. The findings were part of a 2024 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India that has resurfaced following the death of 23 children linked to the Coldrif cough syrup, produced by a Tamil Nadu-based company.

The CAG report, tabled on December 10, 2024, had revealed alarming lapses in drug safety monitoring by Tamil Nadu authorities. The audit found that the state drug control department had fallen drastically short in its inspection and sample collection targets, a failure that experts say could have contributed to poor oversight of pharmaceutical manufacturers like Sresan, the company that manufactured Coldrif.

The shortfall occurred between 2016 and 2021 when the AIADMK led by Edappadi Palaniswami was in power, said Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian. "EPS ought to respond to these failures," the minister said.

According to the CAG report, in 2016-17, Tamil Nadu was required to conduct 1,00,800 drug inspections, but only 66,331 were carried out - a 34% shortfall. By 2020-21, during the pandemic years, the gap had widened; only 62,358 inspections were done against the same target, a 38% shortfall. Similarly, there were significant deficiencies in drug sample collection, with shortfalls of up to 54% in some years.

Despite these repeated red flags, there was little corrective action by the successive governments.

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary P Senthilkumar told NDTV that the state's drug control department had carried out periodic inspections at the Sresan plant in 2021 and 2022, during which penalties were imposed.

The plant has now been shut, and its owner has been arrested by Madhya Pradesh police on charges of adulteration and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The Tamil Nadu government has also suspended two senior drug inspectors for failure to conduct periodic inspections.

"There were lapses over the last two years, and action was taken. Intensive inspections have been ordered at other manufacturing units. Around 300 violations were found at the Sresan facility, and criminal action has been initiated," said Senthilkumar.

He also denied a shortage of drug inspectors in the state, pointing out that 90 new drug inspectors were recently recruited to strengthen oversight.

However, lapses were not limited to the state level. State officials also blamed central drug inspectors for allegedly failing to conduct inspections once every three years at the Sresan facility, which is mandatory under national drug safety regulations.

While the state moved swiftly after the tragedy, questions remain on why the systemic shortfalls flagged by the CAG were not addressed earlier, either by the state or central regulators.

Public health experts say the problem is not confined to Tamil Nadu. The CAG's audit for Rajasthan, for instance, shows even higher shortfalls in inspections and sample collection, pointing to a nationwide failure in enforcing basic drug safety protocols.

With grieving families in Madhya Pradesh still awaiting accountability for the deaths of their children, the revelations from Tamil Nadu's own audit underscore how oversight failures at multiple levels may have set the stage for one of India's most tragic pharmaceutical disasters in recent years.