• Calls for investigation claiming Health Minister misled Cabinet

Claiming that an Indian pharmaceutical company has settled the relevant bills, including the hotel bills of Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella during his visit to India from 21 to 24 December to inspect a pharmaceutical manufacturing factory belonging to the same company, the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) emphasised that an investigation must be conducted into the matter.

Speaking at a media briefing, FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda said: “Rambukwella has issued a Twitter message and mentioned that he did not spend Government money for this trip, and instead spent private funds. That is the problem. He has not gone to India with Government money. He has travelled in business class. After that, he stayed at a hotel in Chennai, India. That hotel is a five-star hotel. The charge for a room per day is $ 400. On the relevant invoice, the Indian company’s electronic mail address is mentioned in place of the payee’s information. This is only the room charge. We don’t know how much money the company allocated for other related facilities and air tickets.”

Speaking further, he said that it is clear that a pharmaceutical company has paid for Rambukwella to travel to India and provided the necessary facilities. He said that while Rambukwella had participated in this visit, officials of the relevant institutions with expert knowledge, who should be part of such visits, had been excluded. Accordingly, he accused Rambukwella of wasting public funds, acting fraudulently, and misleading the Cabinet by providing false information.

“On the one hand, he gave false information to the Cabinet and broke their trust by acting irresponsibly. On the other hand, he accepts bribes from these companies and purchases drugs that kill patients and put their lives at risk. There is a definite need for an investigation in this regard. A formal investigation is needed. If Rambukwella is guilty of this, action should be taken against him for putting people’s lives in danger. This is not the first accusation against him. Many such accusations have been made against him before, but he is safe because he uses political power,” claimed Jayagoda.

Jayagoda added that Rambukwella had gone to India to confirm the quality of drugs that will be imported to Sri Lanka and form an agreement regarding the import of 28 types of drugs that are allegedly not registered by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), the latter being the authorised body for their registration. He also claimed that Rambukwella had misled the Cabinet and asked for Cabinet approval to import the 28 types of drugs.

“Now, a game is being played. When there is a shortage of drugs, they (the Health Ministry) wait for the shortage to worsen, without taking any measures. After the shortage worsens, they buy medicines at a higher price under the guise of emergency purchases, without following the tender procedure. Even while making such purchases, the Ministry purchases drugs from companies that have not been approved by the relevant institutions, thereby putting the lives and health of patients at risk. These 28 types of drugs are also to be purchased from an Indian company that is not registered with the NMRA,” he claimed.

At the time of submitting the relevant Cabinet paper, Jayagoda claimed that Rambukwella had stated that the company was approved by the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC), which had completely misled the Cabinet. While the SPMC does not have the authority to confirm the quality of drugs or to grant approvals related to their import other than to purchase drugs, he said that it is the NMRA that is authorised to ensure the quality of drugs through the relevant laboratories and scientific research.

“Even the statement made by Rambukwella regarding the SPMC is not true, because the SPMC blacklisted this Indian company in 2019, and has stopped all purchases of drugs from them. Therefore, Rambuwella is trying to purchase drugs from a company which has been blacklisted for not supplying drugs of the required quality. Certain facts were hidden from the Cabinet even as the paper was being presented to the Cabinet. Through such actions, it is very clear that he has misled the Cabinet,” he further claimed.

Further charging that Rambukwella had recently left for India with NMRA Chief Executive Officer Vijith Gunasekera to monitor the quality of the pharmaceutical drug manufacturing process in a factory, which Jayagoda claimed is owned by the relevant Indian company in question, he said that a problem arises as to what qualifications and training Rambukwella or Gunasekera possess to assess the quality of drugs. He said that there is no point in operating institutions like the NMRA if Ministers can go to foreign countries to inspect factories and approve the purchase of drugs.

Attempts to contact Rambukwella as well as some of his personal staff members proved futile.

Meanwhile, Rambukwella had responded to reports about his visit to India on his Twitter handle. The tweet said: “I am currently in India with Gunasekera – the regulator that examines the quality and ensures that medicinal products meet the standards of safety and quality. A few weeks ago, another team from the Ministry headed by an Additional Secretary and NMRA officials met with and examined the quality of the medicinal products from pharmaceutical companies based in another part of India as part of this work. 

“Once the preliminary fact-finding visit concludes and quality approvals are given by the tech experts, my job is to expedite and fast track the supply from government to government, cut through any unnecessary red tape, and ensure a constant supply of quality medicines to the people. 

“As with all medicinal procurements, quality control tests must be satisfied before purchasing. I must also stress that no State funding was used for this venture, as I have funded my own travel whilst the NMRA was independently funded, and as such, added no burden to the State.”