Expired drugs possibly given to Nipah patients, says Keralam Health Minister

A medical board will be constituted to investigate whether use of expired drug, Remdesivir, led to the deaths of Nipah patients. The board will also look into whether other patients who had been given the drug had any side-effects, Minister for Health K. Muraleedharan has said.

He was replying to a submission in the Keralam Assembly by Mathew Kuzhalnadan, MLA, on apprehension over expired Remdesivir being given to patients on Thursday (October 29, 2026).

The Minister said the medical board would be headed by Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, Infectious Diseases department head Aravind R.

Remdesivir is an antiviral drug given to COVID-19 and Nipah patients. It was distributed to health institutions only through Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL) during emergency situations to save lives.

The KMSCL last purchased Remdesivir through Karunya on June 3, 2021. The 3,000 vials cost ₹42 lakh. The date of expiry of the drug purchased last was May 30, 2023. The drug had been purchased only through Karunya.

According to a report from Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, 102 vials of Remdesivir were used in 2023-24, 34 vials in 2024-25, 10 vials in 2025-26, and 50 in 2026-27. However, the 50 vials used in 2026-27 were brought from Bahrain to treat a Nipah patient.

Accordingly, it is suspected that the drugs given to patients in 2023, 2024, and 2025 according to the hospital records had expired. The Director of Medical Education and the Director of Health Services has been issued directives to provide details of all patients who had been given Remdesivir, the Minister said.

Of the six Nipah cases reported in 2023, two died, while in 2024, of the two cases reported, both died. In 2025, of the three cases reported, two died. In 2026, the patient in the only case reported recovered, the Minister added.