By: Staff Writer
July 15, Colombo (LNW): A major corruption scandal has come to light at the Colombo National Hospital, where chemical reagents worth billions of rupees were allegedly procured in violation of proper procedures, posing a serious risk to patient health and safety.
The revelations were made by Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Trade Union Alliance of Medical Professionals on Civil and Medical Rights, citing a government audit report released in June this year.
According to Dr. Sanjeewa, the scale of the malpractice is staggering—allegedly fifteen times worse than the much-publicized corrupt deal involving former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.
While Rambukwella is accused of authorizing the procurement of substandard immunoglobulin injections worth Rs. 130 million, the irregular purchases at the National Hospital’s laboratory over the past three years exceed Rs. 2.5 billion in value.
The audit report states that these reagents were bought regionally without approval from the hospital’s Medical Supplies Division. Alarmingly, reagents worth over Rs. 13 million have already expired, while chemicals worth another Rs. 5 million were purchased after their expiry date.
Furthermore, reagents valued at Rs. 8 million were accepted into the lab despite having less than a month of usable shelf life left.
Dr. Sanjeewa also raised concerns about outdated laboratory equipment still in use, stating that many devices had been phased out internationally. He questioned who approved these procurements, who made the recommendations, and who accepted the goods—urging the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a thorough investigation.
He warned that tens of thousands of patients may have received test results based on expired or degraded chemicals, severely affecting the accuracy of medical diagnoses. This, he said, could lead to fatal consequences—for instance, a heart patient being misdiagnosed as healthy, or a kidney patient being sent home without proper treatment.
“The scale of harm caused to patients by this negligence could far exceed the fallout from Keheliya’s actions,” Dr. Sanjeewa asserted.
