The Drugs Control Department is expected to take action against a drug store in Koyilandy in Kozhikode district, after reports emerged that glucose in liquid form was being sold there apparently as a preventive drug for COVID-19.
According to K. Sujith Kumar, Assistant Drugs Controller, the shop was found to be selling liquid glucose in bottles. “A show-cause notice will be issued to the owner of the shop. Their licence could be suspended and the drug dispensing permission will be revoked,” he told The Hindu on Tuesday. Mr. Kumar said that they searched the shop after directions from the State Drugs Controller. It is learnt that the officials have warned other shops against its sale.
E. Sukumaran, a former Deputy Director of Health and a well-known public health practitioner from Koyilandy, had earlier claimed that 25% of glucose in liquid form could prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection if it is applied as nasal drops. A major newspaper published a report on this, quoting him. Later, Dr. Sukumaran also wrote an article in the same newspaper in defence of his claim. Public health activists pointed out that the sale of liquid glucose should be viewed against the backdrop of this statement.
Meanwhile, Campaign Against Pseudo Science Using Law and Ethics (CAPSULE), a platform of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, has filed a complaint with the Travancore-Cochin Medical Council, which is the registration body for doctors. CAPSULE chairman U. Nandakumar said that Dr. Sukumaran’s claim neither had any scientific basis nor the support of randomised-controlled trials, which are essential for the use of any drug. Liquid glucose was yet to be proved effective to counter COVID-19. The claim had already misled a section of the society and led to widespread discussion, he added.
