The year was 2008 — a dark chapter in the history of Bangladesh’s health sector. A noble government initiative to eradicate kala-azar turned into a national tragedy. Instead of life-saving medicine, patients were handed inactive powder capsules — essentially ‘flour pills.’ Due to this shocking fraud and negligence, at least 289 innocent people across the country lost their lives.
More than a decade later, the wound of impunity remains unhealed. Investigations have revealed how one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Popular Pharmaceuticals, along with its then Chief Operating Officer Dr. Pinaki Bhattacharya, orchestrated this humanitarian disaster in collusion with a corrupt syndicate.
A Noble Initiative That Fell Victim to Corruption
The incident began in 2008 when the government launched a kala-azar eradication project with financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). Under the program, patients were supposed to receive free Miltefosine capsules. One of WHO’s key conditions for funding was that the supplying company must have international accreditation and at least two years of relevant experience.
Two companies took part in the international tender — Germany’s reputed firm Eterna Zentaris and Bangladesh’s Popular Pharmaceuticals. Despite Eterna Zentaris’s global recognition and long-standing experience, the contract was mysteriously awarded to the inexperienced Popular Pharmaceuticals.
WHO strongly objected to this irregularity and suspended funding. Allegations later surfaced that a powerful clique within the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) manipulated the process by reissuing the tender and removing the “two-year experience” requirement — solely to favor Popular Pharmaceuticals. Consequently, the government purchased the drugs with public funds worth around 5.5 crore taka (approximately USD 500,000), with Dr. Pinaki Bhattacharya overseeing the entire process.
How the Fraud Was Exposed
Just weeks after the capsules were distributed, doctors began noticing that patients taking Popular’s Miltefos showed no signs of improvement. Tests revealed that the kala-azar parasite remained active in their bodies.
Alarmed by the situation, WHO collected samples of the capsules and sent them to an international laboratory in the Netherlands. The findings were horrifying — the report confirmed that the capsules contained no trace of the active ingredient Miltefosine. The so-called medicine being administered to patients was nothing more than inert powder.
