- Mosop MP Abraham Kirwa claimed substandard medicines nearly cost him his life after a severe heart episode in 2024
- Despite treatment in Kenya, his condition worsened until he was flown abroad, where the same medications from different suppliers improved his health
- Kirwa questioned the safety of Kenya’s drug supply chain, asking how many others might have faced similar risks
- Regulators urged him to file a formal complaint to investigate, while noting no evidence yet confirms the medicines were defective
Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.
Mosop MP Abraham Kirwa has raised serious concerns over the quality of medicines in Kenya, claiming that ineffective drugs nearly cost him his life.
Source: Facebook
Kirwa suffered an ischemic stroke and severe congestive heart failure in August 2024 and was rushed to a Nairobi hospital.
How did medication impact Kirwa’s health?
However, the lawmaker reveals that doctors at the top facility attended to him, but his heart function continued to deteriorate.
Kirwa’s ejection fraction, a key measure of heart health, dropped from 25 to 15% a critical stage where survival is highly uncertain.
He explained that it was at this point that his wife made the life-saving decision to fly him out of the country for specialised care.
Flown first to Dubai and later to the United States, Kirwa continued on the same medication but sourced from different suppliers.
The results were starkly different as his health steadily improved, reinforcing his belief that substandard or ineffective medicines may have played a role in his near-fatal decline.
“I asked the doctor what really happened; why is my body reacting to your medicine but it was not reacting to their medicine. He told me, what we are giving you is the real medicine. Whatever you were taking, we don’t know what it was, but somehow it was not the real medicine,” Kirwa recounted.
Almost two weeks after returning to Kenya, Kirwa took to the floor of the National Assembly to air his concerns, narrating how he almost died.
The lawmaker questioned how many other Kenyans might have suffered similar risks due to potential lapses in the country’s medication supply chain.
“My question remains, how many people have had the same problem that I have had? We are losing our parents, we are losing our brothers, we are losing our sisters, because that is all they have,” Kirwa posed.
What steps are needed for Kenya to have formal investigation?
The PSK has responded cautiously, emphasising that the MP had not launched any formal complaint.
Wairimu Mbogo, PSK president, urged Kirwa to file an official report to ensure a proper investigation, adding that it would help trace other defective medicine, if any.
“If there is a risk, can we have it formally reported so that it follows the right channel so that we figure out if this product had a problem, because I can imagine the product did not go to that hospital alone. It might have gone to many other hospitals and affected many more patients,” Mbogo stated.
Source: Facebook
Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga noted that the matter is being taken seriously, but no evidence has yet confirmed substandard medicines.
He highlighted ongoing efforts to improve supply chain oversight through a digital track-and-trace system, which will ensure medicines can be traced from manufacture to patient.
“This one is not proven. I think we take it as an important concern, but there is no proof to what he said. So until the regulator with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board does their check, we have already instituted that,” Oluga added.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
