In the run up to the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday alleged a huge scandal in the drug trials in the State and demanded a central Government inquiry into the matter.
In a letter to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he claimed that more than 100 persons have lost their lives over drug trials in medical colleges of the State Government.
Singh accused the State Government of “protecting” the doctors involved in the scam. “A huge scandal has taken place in Government medical colleges of Madhya Pradesh, where unsuspecting patients were made to undergo drug trials in which more than 100 people have lost their lives,” Singh said in the letter dated November 5 which was also released to the media. The State is under BJP rule for last 10 years, where Assembly elections are scheduled on November 25.
Singh also took the opportunity to rake up the alleged irregularities in admission of 700 medical students in the State as a major poll issue by daring Shivraj Singh Chouhan to hold a CBI inquiry into the matter. Singh said that if the call records of the Director of the Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) of the State was examined, it will be found that “several calls” were made to the Chief Minister’s residence during the test.
Singh who himself has served as MP CM for two consecutive terms blamed the incumbent government for protecting the accused doctors who allegedly received huge sums by fraudulent means. Urging the Health Minister to get matter thoroughly probed as the government medical practitioners did not followed Government of India regulations in conducting drug trials.
The Supreme Court had last year expressed concern over such trials saying it’s “unfortunate” that humans were being treated as “guinea pigs”. Singh had presented in a Press conference in July this year the family members of those who allegedly lost their lives during illegal drug trials.
Singh had a few months back also demanded a probe by CBI into “illegal” clinical trials of drugs in Madhya Pradesh.