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Tamil Nadu
By Our Staff Reporter
Awarding a total of over Rs. 94,000 as compensation to a patient — who approached the Padma Ayurveda Vaidyasala and Research Centre for diabetes but ended up contracting another complication because of the presence of lead in a prescribed preparation — a Bench also asked the Mumbai-based Charak Pharmaceuticals not to manufacture a capsule, Pallyrwyn Forte, any longer. Besides restraining the firm from offering the capsule for sale to the public, the Bench asked it to withdraw the unsold stock. The complainant, K.M. Balakrishnan of Natham in Dindigul district, said he was diagnosed for diabetes in January 1996. After taking allopathic medicines for about 8 months, he was lured by a colourful pamphlet, issued by the Padma Ayurvedha Vaidyasala, claiming that it had remedies for 20 incurable diseases including diabetes. A doctor prescribed four Ayurvedic preparations, and asked Mr. Balakrishnan to take the medicines thrice a day daily for one year. In March 1998, the complainant experienced severe stomach pain and complained of lack of hunger. The doctor, however, said the problem had nothing to do with the Ayurvedic medicines. The complainant went back to his allopathic doctor and then was referred to the CMC Hospital at Vellore. There he was diagnosed as suffering from chronic lead poisoning. After ascertaining that the source of poisoning was one of the medicines prescribed by the Ayurvedic centre, Mr. Balakrishnan moved the Commission directly, seeking a compensation of Rs. 18 lakhs. When it sent a sample of the capsule to the Government Analysis Drug Testing Laboratory at Teynampet here, the report revealed that Pallyrwyn Forte capsule `contained 1,681 ppm of lead against the permissible limit of only 20 ppm in drugs'. On notice, the Ayurvedic centre denied any deficiency in service and claimed that the source of excess lead presence could be water and air pollution also. But, the Bench, comprising the commission president, Justice M.S. Janarthanam, and member-I, Vanaroja, pointed out that the complainant hailed from a rural area, where there was little possibility of air pollution. He did not use water from any PVC pipe. The Bench also took exception to the aluminium foil, in which Pallyrwyn Forte was packed, not containing any information denoting the lead content in a large proportion. Stating that the information had been `concealed' by the pharmaceuticals company, the Bench said it had manufactured and offered for sale a drug hazardous to the health and safety of the public.
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