In an April 29 letter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Haryana state reviewed by Reuters, a lawyer named Yashpal accused the state's drug controller, Manmohan Taneja, of taking a bribe of 50 million rupees from local manufacturer Maiden Pharmaceuticals to help it switch the samples before an Indian government laboratory tested them. Maiden's factory is based in Haryana state.Taneja did not respond to phone calls, messages or emails seeking comment.
"I just want the matter formally investigated," said the 38-year-old, adding that he was waiting to be asked to submit an affidavit that would trigger such a probe. The Additional Chief Secretary, G. Anupama, said in a text message, "Enquiry is underway" and directed Reuters to the health minister for Haryana state, Anil Vij, for further details. Vij did not respond to requests for comment.
Naresh Kumar Goyal, the founder of Maiden Pharmaceuticals, told Reuters in December his company did nothing wrong in the production of the cough syrup. In February, an Indian court sentenced Goyal and another Maiden executive tofor quality violations in drugs sold to Vietnam a decade ago. It gave them a month to appeal. Reuters could not determine the status of that case.
However, India's federal drugs regulator said in December its own tests found no toxins in the syrups. Its factory inspectors did earlier find that batches of medicine may have been incorrectly labelled, according to a notice it sent to Maiden seen by Reuters. It has not made clear how, in light of that, it can be sure it tested theYashpal also sent his complaint to the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said and documents seen by Reuters show.
On May 10, Taneja's deputy Lalit Kumar Goel asked Yashpal to come to the regulator's office "with all relevant documents" to discuss the inquiry, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.