Bhopal:

The quality of several crucial medicines in Madhya Pradesh has come under scrutiny, leading to a state-wide ban on more than nine essential drugs and injections.

The Madhya Pradesh Public Health Service Corporation Limited (MPPHSCL) has identified these medicines as substandard, raising concerns about patient safety across all districts in the state.

NDTV has got a copy of a shocking report that exposed this life-threatening fraud.

The issue first came to light when doctors at a government hospital in Indore saw that patients were not responding to treatment as expected. This prompted an investigation into the medicines supplied by MPPHSCL, uncovering significant irregularities. A large batch of medicines, including life-saving drugs and antibiotics, was found to be of poor quality, prompting immediate action.

“Our team reported that many injections were not working as expected; those that should be administered once had to be given twice,” said Dr Sumit Shukla, Superintendent of Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College.

The situation turned dire in Damoh, where five pregnant women died after they took intravenous saline.

In response, MPPHSCL has banned the use of these medicines across the state.

“We have a comprehensive system to check all medicines procured or sold in the market. There is a full department and a laboratory dedicated to this task. When medicines are purchased, their certificates are thoroughly checked, and once the medicines arrive, samples are collected and sent to the laboratory for testing,” said state Health Minister Narendra Shivaji Patel, adding the government is committed to transparency and safety.

“Our doctors and laboratories have identified the suppliers or factories that produced these ineffective or potentially harmful medicines. This shows that our system is working effectively to protect public health. If any supplier is found attempting to distribute substandard medicines, they will be banned, blacklisted, and subjected to strict legal action. We will take all necessary steps to ensure that our citizens are not harmed,” Mr Patel said.

Despite strict regulations requiring NABL-certified lab reports for medicine supplies in government hospitals, the reality suggests a lapse in quality control. Many of the banned drugs, including those used in intensive care units (ICUs) and operation theatres, are still available in private shops, raising further concerns.

NDTV went to a medicine shop in Bhopal’s biggest government hospital, Hamidia, to uncover the ground reality of the availability of banned medicines. Despite the state’s recent crackdown on substandard drugs, NDTV was able to easily purchase Heparin and Nitroglycerin injections. These are part of the nine life-saving drugs recently banned due to quality concerns of the same manufacturer.

The process was disturbingly straightforward. We approached the medicine shop inside Hamidia Hospital, requested the injections, made the purchase, and received an official bill – all without any hindrance.

These injections, which are critical in emergency care settings such ICUs and operation theatres, were supposed to be banned following the state’s directive. The ease with which these injections were obtained at Hamidia is not an isolated incident. Our investigation extended to private shops outside JP Hospital, where the same banned injections were readily available.

“Many of these medicines are life-saving. In the ICU, we administer dopamine to patients with dangerously low blood pressure. Additionally, when a patient suffers a cardiac arrest, we use non-adrenaline during CPR. These medicines are crucial in emergency situations, and their quality must be impeccable,” said Dr Ashok Thakur of MY Hospital. “Any deficiency in these drugs can lead to adverse outcomes, putting patients’ lives at risk,” he said.

The real question remains – how long has this compromised quality persisted? With more than 90 per cent of hospitals in the state facing a shortage of essential medicines and the quality of supplied drugs in question, the situation is alarming.

Indore:

Unhappy over the dismissal of his civil suit, a 65-year-old petitioner allegedly threw a garland of shoes at a district judge here in the courtroom on Tuesday, police said.

Mohammad Salim had filed a case in the court alleging that a mosque had been constructed by encroaching on government land in the Azad Nagar area of Indore.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinod Kumar Dixit told reporters that the district court judge dismissed Mr Salim’s civil suit after hearing arguments from both sides and observing that the mosque was not built on encroached land.

“As soon as Mr Salim heard this decision of the court, he took out a garland of shoes which he had hidden in his clothes and threw it towards the judge,” he said.

Mr Salim’s son Mohammed Raees was also present in the courtroom when the incident occurred.

An FIR would be lodged against the father and son under relevant legal provisions, Mr Dixit said.

Meanwhile, Mr Raees alleged that lawyers beat him and his father after the incident.

“The lawyers tore the clothes of my father and stripped him”, he claimed, adding that police personnel rescued him and his father from the lawyers and brought them to MG Road police station.

“My father was fighting the case for 12 years. He had said in the lawsuit that the mosque had been constructed by encroaching on the drainage line of the government land of the municipal body in Azad Nagar area and this construction is against Islam,” Mr Raees said.

Indore Advocate Association’s Secretary Kapil Birthare rejected Mr Raees’s allegations against the lawyers.

“The incident of throwing a garland of shoes towards the judge in the courtroom is very unfortunate. Strict action should be taken against the accused in the incident,” he said.

Mr Birthare also demanded that strict security arrangements be made in the district court premises to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indore:

A 53-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore kept his live-in partner’s body at his home for three days and later stuffed it in a sack and abandoned it on the road as he did not have money for her last rites, police said on Monday.

The decomposed body of a 57-year-old woman was found in a sack abandoned in the Chandan Nagar area on Sunday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nandini Sharma told PTI.

“We did not find any injury on the woman’s body. A post-mortem showed that she was suffering from liver-related problems and other diseases for a long time, which led to her natural death,” she said.

The woman had been living with a man for the last 10 years, she said.

The police found the man in a garden in the Rajmohalla area, and he appeared to be mentally weak, the official said.

Neighbours had complained to him about a foul smell emanating from his house, she said.

“Investigations revealed that the man had kept the body in the house for three days. Neighbours complained about the foul smell, after which he put the body in a sack on Saturday night and took it about 200 meters from his house. He was unable to drag the sack any further and left it on the road,” the official said.

The man informed that he abandoned the body because he did not have money for the last rites, she said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway into the woman’s death.

Chandan Nagar police station in-charge Indramani Patel said the police performed the last rites of the woman on Monday. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indore:

After BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya was fielded in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, party supporters started celebrations in Indore on Monday.

The BJP supporters celebrated outside the residence of Mr Vijayvargiya in Indore.

Meanwhile, the BJP leader said that the central leadership’s decision was “surprising” and that he will do whatever they say. Mr Vijayvargiya has been fielded from Indore-1 constituency.

Speaking to ANI, he said, “This is the party’s order. I was told that I would be assigned work that I would not say ‘no’ and I would have to do it. When the tickets were declared, I too was surprised. I am the party’s soldier. I will do whatever they say.”

“Although I had said that I do not want to contest the elections, senior leaders of the party gave me some directions the day before yesterday. I was in a conundrum and after the announcement was made, I was left surprised. I am privileged that I got the opportunity to participate in electoral politics and I will try to fulfil the party’s expectations,” he added.

The ruling BJP on Monday released its second list of 39 candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. The new list, announced hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal, includes four party MPs and three Union Ministers.

The BJP’s second list features three central ministers — Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel, and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste.

While Mr Tomar will contest from the Dimni seat, Mr Patel and Mr Kulaste will contest from Narsingpur and Niwas respectively.

The BJP released its first list of candidates on August 17, revealing the names of 39 candidates.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go for the assembly polls later this year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indore:

The mayor-in-council of Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Friday cleared a proposal in a meeting to replace ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ at its functions and in its correspondence, officials said.

The proposal, which was cleared by Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava, will now be placed before the 85-member house of the Indore Municipal Corporation, which is likely to meet next month to give its approval, officials informed.

“Naming the country as India was a gift from the British, whereas addressing it as Bharat reflects our rich historical and cultural heritage. Even as per the Constitution, the name of our country is Bharat,” Mr Bhargava told PTI.

Over the past few weeks, there has been speculation in several quarters that the Union government is contemplating changing the name of the country from ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’.

Several experts have maintained that both names Bharat and India, mentioned in Article 1 of the Constitution as ‘India, that is Bharat…’ are part of the country’s heritage and “completely legitimate”. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)