Mujtaba Wani
SRINAGAR: Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for a shutdown on Saturday against the fake drug scandal in the valley.
Two weeks ago, lab tests found that antibiotic tablet, Maximizen-625, supposed to contain 500 mg of amoxicillin, had no amoxicillin at all.
Tens of thousands of these tablets were supplied to various hospitals in the valley, including the Lal Ded Maternity hospital in Srinagar.
A spokesman for the Geelani-led hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference said the octogenarian leader has also demanded that a formal complaint be lodged against former health minister Sham Lal Sharma.
The spurious drugs were purchased during his tenure.
The shutdown call comes a day after the Doctors Association of Kashmir appealed to separatist leaders and civil society members to raise the issue.
“When they call for strike over a strike, why not now,” Dr Nisar-ul-Hasan said on Monday.
“This is a big conspiracy. All those involved in this are party to the killing of Kashmiri people.”
At a press conference yesterday, the DAK also accused the authorities of risking lives of patients by deliberately suppressing sample test reports of an intravenous injection ‘Curecef-1000’.
The injection contained “undissolved particles”, which Dr Hasan said could cause instantaneous death.
According to DAK, the tests were conducted thrice since 2011, but the drug continued to be used in hospitals till late 2012.
Dr Hasan said these injections may have caused most of the mysterious deaths in the hospitals.
The DAK is planning to lodge a complaint against former minister Sharma. They have filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court.
