Kerala Police begin probe into complaint of pin in capsule given by state-run hospital

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 21 (IANS) The Kerala Police on Tuesday began a probe into a complaint that medicines, a woman got from a state-run hospital in the capital city suburbs at Vithura, contained a pin in a capsule.

The Kerala State Health Department has already brought this issue to the attention of the state police chief and suspected foul play.

Meanwhile, the Vithura Police, based on a complaint from a public activist, have decided to intensify the probe.

The Health Department suspects it to be a foul play to tarnish its image by vested interests.

Last week, after collecting her medicine from the pharmacy attached to the Taluk hospital, the woman found a pin in the capsule.

Soon this issue and the video about it turned viral on social media, and the Health Department stepped in and conducted an inquiry.

Preliminary findings revealed that the claim was untrue and soon they brought this to the attention of the state police chief.

Incidentally, state-owned Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) supplies medicines to state-run hospitals and clinics.

However, the present allegation of the pin in the capsule is seen as a ploy by vested interests after the Kerala Health Department launched an aggressive campaign against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. Around 30 per cent drop in antibiotics' usage was seen since the initiative began in October last year.

The Health Department has also ensured that all hospitals in the state are turned into antibiotic-smart hospitals. Besides, there should be no sales of antibiotics through medical shops without a prescription from doctors, it said.

This campaign is to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the top global public health and development threats as misuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants are the main drivers in drug-resistant pathogens' development.

Another step that has been initiated is that antibiotics would have to be given in a blue cover and a doctor's prescription will be compulsory for people when they buy it from medical shops.