Malawi Government rewards ‘baby killer’ drug firm with K16bn

Company accused of stealing expired insulin, forging labels and selling poison back to hospitals now cashing in again

A pharmaceutical company linked to dead babies, expired insulin and forged medicine labels has been handed a staggering K16 billion government contract — sparking fury and fresh questions about who protects politically connected suppliers inside Malawi’s health system.

GPSL Wholesale Ltd, one of Malawi’s biggest pharmaceutical suppliers, is back in the spotlight after revelations that the same company accused of relabelling expired insulin and supplying it to public hospitals has now secured another lucrative government deal.

According to an explosive investigation by the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ Malawi), GPSL allegedly bought stolen expired insulin from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital during Malawi’s insulin shortage between January and March 2022, forged expiry labels and sold the medicine back to government hospitals across the country.

The insulin had reportedly expired in August 2021. But investigators say the original expiry labels and batch numbers were removed and replaced with fake labels showing a later expiry date of October 2022.

The drugs were then distributed to hospitals including Kamuzu Central Hospital, Mzuzu Central Hospital and Zomba Central Hospital. Shockingly, some of the insulin reportedly ended up back at QECH — the same hospital from which it had allegedly been stolen. The entire scheme only collapsed after an intern at Kamuzu Central Hospital noticed labels peeling off insulin vials inside a refrigerator, exposing the original expired dates underneath.

But even more alarmingly, the insulin heist was not GPSL’s first act of deadly fraud. Nearly a decade earlier, in 2013, the company — then trading as Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and Surgical Logistics — was implicated in supplying faulty antibiotics to Mzimba District Hospital where doctors noticed babies born to women treated with the chloramphenicol antibiotic GPSL supplied were dying. 

“In 2013, doctors at Mzimba District Hospital reported deaths of babies born to women who had received an antibiotic called Chloramphenicol. Galaxy Pharmaceutical and Surgical Logistics Ltd supplied the medication to hospitals,” PIJ Malawi reported in its investigation.

“They had seen a trend of deaths, probably five or six babies. They seized the product and brought it here,” recalled former PMRA Registrar Mphatso Kawaye, who is now Director General of the Pharmacy Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA).

According to the investigation, the company was allegedly tipped off before regulators arrived at the hospital to inspect the medicine. By the time investigators reached the facility, the antibiotic stock had reportedly vanished. The company later issued a recall, but the batches also reportedly disappeared before PMRA officials could examine them.

PMRA eventually found the company guilty of supplying faulty antibiotics and revoked both the company’s licence and that of its owner. The company later quietly shut down.

But the scandal took an even darker turn as the case file connected to the newborn deaths had been stolen from PMRA offices during investigations.

Even more explosively, PMRA documents reportedly stated that the theft formed part of a wider cover-up involving government officials implicated in the fraud.

Despite PMRA investigators reportedly recommending revocation of GPSL’s licence over the insulin scandal, the company allegedly escaped with only warnings and continued operating normally.

The company recast itself as GPSL Wholesale in 2019 — this time through the son of the barred proprietor — and once again engaged in selling defective medication. When contacted, the company representative denied owning it but confirmed: “Galaxy Pharmaceutical Company and GPSL are the same company.” 

Now, the fresh K16 billion contract is triggering further outrage across the country especially on social media.

“How does a company accused of selling expired insulin continue winning government tenders?” one commentator asked. Another wrote: “People can die in hospitals because of fake medicine, but somebody somewhere still signs contracts and gets rich.”

The Ministry of Health claims that internal investigations found the expired insulin caused no deaths have been debunked after PMRA documents showed no investigation was ever conducted.

George Jobe, executive director of the Malawi Health Equity Network, warned that the scandal threatens public trust in the country’s health system.

“Medicines are meant to save lives. Any act that compromises their safety and quality is a grave violation of patient rights and undermines public trust,” he said.

But for many Malawians, the most disturbing part is that this is not the first major scandal linked to the company.

GPSL Wholesale Ltd is reportedly the same company that previously operated as Galaxy Pharmaceuticals and Surgical Logistics, which was shut down in 2013 after being implicated in supplying faulty antibiotics linked to infant deaths at Mzimba District Hospital.

Despite the company’s licence reportedly being revoked at the time, the business later resurfaced under a different name and resumed supplying medicines to public hospitals — before once again being implicated in the expired insulin scandal years later.

Madalitso Baloyi is the current Minister of Health in Malawi, deputised by Charles Chilambula. The duo replaced former Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda and former Deputy Minister Halima Daudi, while Dr. Samson Mndoloserves as Secretary for Health.