Expired medicine suspected to be given to Nipah patients, minister forms medical board for investigation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister K Muraleedharan informed the assembly that there is a suspicion on whether the Remdesivir medicines administered to Nipah patients at the Kozhikode Medical College, had expired. The minister noted that the medicine, purchased in 2021, had an expiry date up to May 2023 but was subsequently used in 2024 and 2025. He further informed that an investigation will be conducted by a newly formed medical board to examine whether the deaths of the Nipah-infected patients were caused by the administration of this expired drug.

K Muraleedharan informed the assembly in a written reply that Remdesivir, which expired in 2023, may have been administered to Nipah patients in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The medicine had expired on May 30, 2023, but hospital records indicate that it continued to be used in subsequent years. The information was provided in response to a submission by MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan.

K Muraleedharan’s reply to the submission
‘Remdesivir is a medicine used to treat illnesses such as Nipah and COVID-19. As part of efforts to address emergency situations, Remdesivir was distributed to healthcare institutions exclusively through the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) for patient treatment and life-saving purposes.

The last purchase of Remdesivir through KMSCL’s Karunya scheme was on June 3, 2021. The total cost of the 3,000 vials purchased was Rs 42 lakh. The expiry date of the Remdesivir supplied through this purchase was May 30, 2023.

As Remdesivir falls under the essential medicines category and is a no-bid item, it was purchased only through the Karunya scheme. According to a report received from Kozhikode Medical College, 102 vials of Remdesivir were used during the 2023–24 financial year, 34 vials during 2024–25, 10 vials during 2025–26 and 50 vials during 2026–27. However, the 50 vials used during the 2026–27 financial year were brought from Bahrain on June 12, 2026, and administered to a Nipah patient.

Under these circumstances, hospital records from Kozhikode Medical College raise suspicions that the Remdesivir administered to patients in 2023, 2024 and 2025 had expired. Therefore, instructions have been issued through the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) to collect details of all patients who received Remdesivir in a similar manner.

Of the six Nipah cases reported in 2023, two patients died. Both patients died among the two cases reported in 2024, while two of the three patients reported in 2025 died. In 2026, one Nipah case was reported, and the patient recovered.

Directions will be issued to constitute a medical board headed by Dr Aravind, head of infectious diseases, to conduct a detailed investigation into whether the deaths of Nipah patients were caused by the use of expired medicine and whether other patients who received the drug experienced any adverse effects.