INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Maligakanda Magistrate Lochani Abeywickrama has emphasized that the court finds the actions of the former Secretary of the Ministry of
suspicious.Therefore, the Magistrate has ordered that all responsible parties must be arrested and produced before the court irrespective of
their positions, for the administration of justice over the providing of substandard medicine to the public.The case related to the purchase
question, the Director of the Medical Supplies Division of the Ministry of Health Dr
Kapila Wickramanayake, and four other officials, who were arrested in relation to the case, were produced before the court.Deputy Solicitor
General Lakmini Girihagama, who reported the progress of the investigations related to the matter to the court, on behalf of the Criminal
Investigations Department (CID), stated that she will submit to the court the investigation report of the National Medicines Regulatory
Authority (NMRA) pertaining to the quality of the relevant immunoglobulin vials.Furthermore, the Deputy Solicitor General revealed that the
microorganisms, as per the report.She also highlighted that thereby, the microbiology experts are of the opinion that those drugs would have
caused fatal allergies in patients.In addition, the Deputy Solicitor General expressed that investigations have been launched regarding 04
investigations were launched into a type of drug given for Colorectal cancer (cancers associated with the rectum and large intestine), a
drug given for cancers associated with the lungs and stomach, a drug used in eye surgery and another type of drug used for treating
disorders related with blood clotting, according to the Deputy Solicitor General.Accordingly, she requested the court to issue an order
suspending the use of relevant medicines in treating the patients for now, and to re-import the drugs in question.The magistrate, who took
the request into consideration, has ordered the Medical Supplies Division to immediately suspend the use of those 04 types of drugs and to
store them safely for further investigations.Furthermore, the Deputy Solicitor General also presented facts at length regarding the
investigations.Later, the lawyers representing the suspects had submitted bail requests for their clients.However, the Maligakanda
Magistrate once again rejected the relevant bail requests, after considering the facts presented.Accordingly, the court has also ordered the
relation to the case, to be remanded further until December 27, 2023.
