The Kerala High Court has directed the State Government to file an affidavit based on the allegations of possible adverse drug reactions for Diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) for filariasis, planned to be administered by the State Health Department to 260 lakh people through a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme.

Accepting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to direct the State Government to refrain from administering the drug without proper survey and studies, a division bench of the High Court consisting of Chief Justice N.K.Sodhi and Justice P.R Raman issued notice to the health secretary of the government to file his response before the court at the earliest.

N.Krishna Pillai, an Ayurvedic doctor from Thiruvananthapuam, filed the PIL last week citing the drug has many side effects, and it should not be administered to majority of the state population as the disease is confined only to some parts of the state. The State Government neither conducted elaborate studies and surveys nor ensured adequate medical supervision for administering the drug. Hence, the Government should be directed by the court to refrain from the move, demanded in the petition.

It may be noted that the government postponed the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme scheduled on June 5 in 11 districts of the state.

Many NGOs, cultural leaders and experts opined that it was documented in scientific journals that DEC could cause ADRs like fever, headache and nausea, allergic inflammation of the skin, encephalitis, retinal hemorrhage etc. However, the health department sources and a section of experts, including the state IMA chapter, maintain the drug is safe for an MDA programme.

The MDA programme, planned as an ongoing project for the next five years, is a part of the national project in association with the WHO to eliminate lymphatic filariasis by year 2015.