Health Minister K. Muraleedharan has directed the Principal Secretary (Health) to conduct a comprehensive review of the medicine procurement, inventory management and distribution across the State’s public health system over the past 10 years, after it emerged that a considerable quantity of medicines procured for government health institutions has expired unused over the years, resulting in financial losses to the State exchequer. The note addressed to the Principal Secretary (Health), dated July 28, says that as the nodal agency for the procurement, warehousing and distribution of medicines to government health institutions, the role of Kerala State Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL) in the procurement and management of medicines also required detailed examination. The Minister has also sought a probe into KMSCL’s role in procurement planning, inventory management, stock rotation and the redistribution of near-expiry medicines. The Principal Secretary has also been asked to submit the current inventory of expired medicines still on hand, supported by photographic evidence from all institutions and KMSCL warehouses. The note says that a comprehensive report with recommendations for preventing the recurrence of such wastage be submitted within a month.