The PGI director said the sedative propofol caused the deaths of five patients

Propofol has been identified as the cause of death in five PGI patients after the institute detected that propofol is highly toxic to human organs. "This is definitely the cause of death," said Professor Vivek Lal, director of the PGI. 

Although an internal committee at the hospital mentioned it as "the most likely cause of five deaths," the committee has certified that the batch's toxicity caused adverse events and subsequent deaths in five patients.

The PGI director has shared the findings of the report with the Himachal Pradesh Drug Control Office CDSCO and UT for further action on Monday.

After an adverse event was reported by a faculty member in the Department of Anesthesiology on Sept. 2, a committee was formed. The committee was led by Professor SK Gupta, head of neurosurgery, Other members include Prof. Neerja Bhardwaj, Prof. HS Kohli, Prof. Sameer Malhotra, Prof. Nidhi Panda, Prof. Sandeep Mohindra and Dr. Mahesh Devnani.

On September 1, the PGI not only decided to discontinue the propofol brand that caused the adverse reactions, but also passed an order to withdraw a batch of cefuroxime (an antibiotic injection) from hospital pharmacies until further orders are received.

According to the committee's report, eight patients infected with propofol from the contaminated batch developed unexplained low blood pressure, kidney damage, liver dysfunction, anuria and blood clotting disorders. Of those eight, five died, two recovered and one was discharged against medical advice.

The Himachal Pradesh Drug Control Office had been waiting for PGI to confirm that propofol injection was the cause of death before referring the FIR. A senior faculty member at the PGI said: "When a particular batch of injection in the Nixi lab was contaminated with a bacterium that causes sepsis (a bloodstream infection that can lead to multiple organ failure), how could it not be certain that the drug was the cause of death?" .