AAP slams BJP for calling epilepsy drug ‘spurious’

Shillong, December 28: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused the BJP of spreading blatant lies by calling another sample of epilepsy drug –sodium valproate — as spurious.

The accusation by AAP came after a report claimed the sample of a sodium valproate drug being supplied to Delhi government hospitals was “not of standard quality”.

Reacting to the report, the AAP in a statement said: “BJP is spreading blatant lies by calling the said drug sample as spurious. Basically, the test report being shared by the BJP itself says that it has got all the genuine ingredients (salt formulation).”

The AAP said that the only thing which was “not standard” is the dissolution of this drug. “This, in layman’s terms, basically means that a standard drug may dissolve in 30 seconds in the body while this sample may take 40 secs to dissolve in the body,”

The Delhi-ruling party also said that Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj within two weeks of his joining on March 21, 2023, had called a meeting of officers and directed them to conduct an audit of all medicines and consumables. “This was again reiterated on April 3, 2023. The directions were not complied and again the action taken report on audit directions was sought in July 2023. The Health Secretary did not follow the directions. Why is the Central government protecting the Health Secretary?” AAP added.

The report was issued by the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (RDTL), Chandigarh, on December 22, 2023.

Subsequently, on December 23, L-G V.K. Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the matter of non-standard drugs being allegedly procured and supplied in Delhi government hospitals.

On Wednesday, Delhi BJP workers led by state unit chief Virendra Sachdeva staged a massive protest near the AAP office over the issue. Sachdeva alleged that Bharadwaj and the city government had been aware that the medicines were “not of standard quality” since July. (IANS)