Keralam has ordered an expert enquiry into suspected use of expired Remdesivir on Nipah patients. Its findings will guide action on patient harm, procurement lapses and intermediary roles.Keralam has ordered an expert enquiry into suspected use of expired Remdesivir on Nipah patients.Kozhikode,Oct 30, 2026 11:32 ISTKeralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Friday said the government would take further action after receiving the report of an expert committee investigating allegations that expired doses of Remdesivir were administered to Nipah patients in previous years, the Press Trust of India reported.The enquiry will examine whether any deaths were linked to the use of expired medicine and whether other patients who received it suffered adverse effects.
The government will also investigate the procurement and supply process, including the possible role of agents and foreign pharmaceutical companies.Responding to a submission by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan in the Assembly on Thursday, Muraleedharan said Remdesivir procured in 2021 had expired in May 2023 but might have been administered to patients admitted to Kozhikode Medical College until 2025.Speaking to reporters, Muraleedharan said the information presented in the Assembly was based on reports from responsible Health Department officials. He would not comment further until the expert committee submitted its findings, PTI reported. "There are several doubts regarding the medicine, including whether it was administered after its expiry date.
We will investigate and take a decision," he said.The minister clarified that there were no concerns over the quality or effectiveness of Remdesivir itself. The inquiry was focused on whether expired doses had been given to patients.
Recalling the procurement of the drug during a Nipah outbreak after the UDF government came to power, Muraleedharan said attempts to source it from different parts of the country had failed because the available stocks in Mumbai had expired.The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited then informed the government that the medicine was available in Bahrain. It was procured within 48 hours, he said.Muraleedharan said patients who received the medicine within its validity period had recovered.
He maintained that the controversy related to its expiry date and not its effectiveness.The expert committee, headed by Dr Aravind, would conduct an impartial examination without reaching any conclusions in advance, he said. The enquiry would examine how the medicine was procured and supplied, the role of intermediaries and the functioning of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited.
It would also investigate whether any agents were involved in the procurement process.According to Muraleedharan, the Kozhikode Medical College superintendent told him that the medicine's packaging carried an expiry date but did not mention the manufacturing date. Both details are normally required on medicine packaging, and the discrepancy would be examined.The government would also examine information that the medicine supplied to patients was labelled for clinical trial use.
The minister said he had not received an authoritative report confirming all the details."Further decisions on the issues would be taken after receiving the expert committee's findings," he said.Muraleedharan also referred to concerns about the involvement of foreign pharmaceutical companies in the state's medicine procurement. He said the government would examine the related transactions and procedures.The minister told the Assembly that the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited had last procured 3,000 vials of Remdesivir through its Karunya scheme on June 3, 2021, for Rs 42 lakh.
The medicine had an expiry date of May 30, 2023.According to a report from Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, 102 vials of Remdesivir were used in 2023-24, 34 in 2024-25, 10 in 2025-26 and 50 in 2026-27.However, the 50 vials used in 2026-27 were procured from Bahrain on June 12, 2026, to treat a Nipah patient, Muraleedharan said. Based on these details, there was a suspicion that the Remdesivir administered at the medical college in 2023, 2024 and 2025 had expired.The Directorate of Medical Education and the Directorate of Health Services have been instructed to collect details of all patients who received Remdesivir from health institutions under similar circumstances.Six Nipah cases were reported in 2023, and two patients died.
Both patients diagnosed in 2024 died, while two of the three patients reported in 2025 also died. One case was reported in 2026, and the patient recovered.Nipah is a virus that can spread between animals and humans.
Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes, are its natural carriers, and the virus can also cause illness in pigs and humans.- Ends