Kerala High Court | Treesa Sunil | Social Thikana
In Arif Vs. The State of Kerala, the petitioner is the father of an infant who is 5 months old and suffering from a rare disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This disease can be treated only by the administration of a drug called ‘Onasemnogene'.
The petitioner sought the assistance of the State to procure this life saving drug which around 16-18 crores. This is one of the costliest drugs in the world.
The court observed that this is a fit case where the attention of the Principal Secretary of the State shall be bestowed upon. The court said, “As a welfare State, various aspects are required to be borne in mind, including the efficacy of the drug, its staggering cost, the treatment protocols, the possibility of crowd-funding that can be raised for funding purchase of the medicine, etc”.
The court directed the respondents to respond to the case at hand before the 28th of June and the case is listed again on 29th June 2021.