Haryana govt to probe allegations of bribery against local pharmaceutical regulator in Maiden Pharma toxic syrup case: Report

These syrups were previously linked by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the deaths of children in Gambia.

The substitution of samples took place before they were analyzed at an Indian laboratory.

According to a letter dated April 29 and reviewed by Reuters, a lawyer named Yashpal has accused Manmohan Taneja, the drug controller of Haryana, of accepting a bribe amounting to 50 million rupees ($605,419).

The alleged bribe was given by Maiden Pharmaceuticals, a local manufacturer, with the intention of replacing the samples of cough syrups before they were tested at an Indian government laboratory, the report said.

It is noteworthy that Maiden Pharmaceuticals operates a factory in Haryana.

Yashpal told Reuters that he became aware of the alleged bribe in the Maiden case through information provided by at least two individuals working in India's pharmaceutical industry, including one from within Maiden Pharmaceuticals.

However, Yashpal chose not to disclose their identities due to concerns about the possibility of retaliation.

Yashpal's complaint was initially reported by the Hindi daily Haribhoomi on May 17.

The inquiry conducted by local authorities regarding his allegations has not been disclosed in prior reports.

The lawyer said has never represented pharmaceutical companies or handled cases related to compensation claims throughout his five-year career.

However, he began investigating Taneja last year after being informed by a friend in the pharmaceutical industry about another instance of alleged corruption.

Following the news of the deaths in Gambia, Yashpal intensified his investigation and interviewed approximately 40 sources in Haryana.

It was during this process that he became aware of the alleged bribe involving Maiden Pharmaceuticals.

According to the director general of the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau, Shatrujeet Kapur, Yashpal's complaint will be forwarded to the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) for health in Haryana, who is the top health bureaucrat in the state, the Reuters report said, adding that Kapur did not provide details on the specific actions or measures that would be taken in response to the complaint.

The Additional Chief Secretary, G. Anupama, told Reuters in a text message, "Enquiry is underway".

Yashpal also sent his complaint to Haryana’s chief minister and health minister, who did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters.

In December, Naresh Kumar Goyal, the founder of Maiden Pharmaceuticals, had told Reuters that his company had not engaged in any wrongdoing in the production of the cough syrup.

However, in February, an Indian court sentenced Goyal and another executive from Maiden Pharmaceuticals to two-and-a-half years in jail for quality violations related to drugs sold to Vietnam ten years ago.

They were given a one-month period to file an appeal. The current status of that case could not be determined by Reuters.

Yashpal also sent his complaint to the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said and documents seen by Reuters show. The prime minister's office did not respond to requests for comment.

After the World Health Organization (WHO) linked the Maiden syrups to the deaths of approximately 70 children in Gambia, Indian authorities conducted tests on the syrups last year.

The tests, conducted with assistance from the WHO, confirmed the presence of lethal toxins, namely ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), which are commonly used in car brake fluid. These findings triggered a global search for contaminated medicines.

The WHO said it had full confidence in the test results obtained from two separate laboratories.

Contrary to the findings of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the presence of lethal toxins confirmed by independent laboratories, India's federal drugs regulator said in December that their own tests did not detect any toxins in the Maiden syrups.

However, the regulator's factory inspectors did uncover that certain batches of medicine may have been improperly labelled, as indicated in a notice sent to Maiden and reviewed by Reuters.

The regulator has not provided clarity on how, considering this discrepancy, they can be certain that they tested the correct batch, the report said, adding that the regulator did not respond to a request for comment.