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The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has denied reports which appeared in some sections of the media that cancer patients were inadvertently given wrong oral chemotherapy drugs.
The statement issued by the director of RCC, R. Rejnish Kumar, clarifies that while it is true that there was some confusion due to a label mismatch in a consignment of drugs which were received from one of the drug suppliers to the RCC, the issue was detected by the RCC pharmacy staff at the time of opening the consignment, and the distribution of medicines to patients was stopped.
None of the patients at the RCC were given incorrect medicines, so there is no need for panic, Dr. Rejnish Kumar said.
As per the RCC’s purchase and tender procedures for 2024–25, the pharmaceutical company Globelal Pharma Pvt. Ltd. has been supplying temozolomide 250 mg, 100 mg, and 20 mg, an oral chemotherapy drug used for treating certain types of brain cancers, to the RCC.
The confusion arose with regard to a batch of 92 packets of temozolomide 100 mg (batch No. GSC24056) that was delivered to the RCC on March 25 this year.
Whenever a new batch of drugs arrives, the batch number and all relevant documents are thoroughly verified before adding it to the existing stock. As the drug (temozolomide) from a previous supply order was available in the existing stock, this new batch was brought to the pharmacy only on June 27 for dispensing to patients.
Medicines are usually distributed to patients only after verification by the RCC’s pharmacy staff. When the first set of medicines from this new batch was taken out on July 12 for dispensing to patients, pharmacy staff noticed that two packets in a set of 10 were labelled as etoposide 50 mg (an oral chemotherapy drug for testicular/lung cancers) instead of temozolomide.
When the packets were immediately opened and inspected, it was found that the bottles inside were labelled temozolomide 100 mg.
Due to this confusion, the distribution of temozolomide was immediately suspended at the pharmacy. Thus, no wrong medicine was dispensed to any patient, the RCC clarified.
Globela Pharma, the supplier company, was informed of the issue immediately. The RCC Drug Committee met on July 30 to discuss the issue, following which the State Drugs Controller was informed. It was also decided that no further procurement of temozolomide or etoposide would be made from Globela Pharma Pvt. Ltd., and that no new contract would be entered into with the said firm.
The State Drugs Controller was informed about the mislabelling issue on August 16, following which, officials from the Drugs Control department visited the RCC on October 6 and all suspect medicine packets were impounded.
Dr. Rejnish Kumar said follow-up action and legal measures would be taken up by the Drugs Control department.
The State Drugs Controller, K. Sujithkumar, confirmed that a complaint of mislabelling from RCC had been investigated by the drugs control officials and found to be true.
“There were four boxes of drugs and we have impounded the drugs as well as all records pertaining to the consignment. We have prosecuted the pharma firm under Section 17 B of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and proceedings are going on at the Additional CJM’s court,” he said.
(Section 17 B of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 defines a spurious drug as one that is falsely labelled, an imitation or substitute of another drug, uses a fictitious manufacturer, or has been substituted with another substance, making it likely to deceive a person into believing it is a genuine product.)
Pharma firm based in Gujarat
He said that as the pharma firm is based in Gujarat, the Gujarat State Drugs Control department has also been intimated for further action.
The State Drugs Control department has also recommended that the RCC conduct an internal investigation into the incident.
Published – October 09, 2025 03:38 pm IST
