Shortfall of basic medicines at BMC hospitals, patients suffer
BMC authorities say hospital stores are responsible for maintaining stocks, blame it on poor vigilance, say they need to check if drugs are being sold outside
* Ten-year-old Imran (name changed on request) is admitted to Rajawadi hospital for high fever for almost two weeks now and his father Irfan has been running to the local chemist for medicines that should be available in the hospital itself
* The Shatabdi hospital in Govandi has a board hanging outside its casualty ward listing the medicines not available in the hospital
* Many BMC hospitals do not have the stock of basic medicines like doxycycline, paracetamol or even cremaffin
With basic medicines off the shelves, the scene has gone from bad to worse for poor patients in BMC hospitals across the city over the last couple of months. Irfan, a tailor earning Rs 500 a month, has coughed up Rs 1,500 already. To make matters worse, his wife got admitted to the same hospital last week.
“The hospital’s in-house pharmacy has a shortfall of basic medicines like ondem for vomiting, septran for cough, paracetamol, chloroquinine for malaria, ear drops, anti-worm tablets, T Dionil for diabetics, PCM for elderly people and also some basic ointments for more than three to four months now,” said a doctor at Rajawadi on the condition of anonymity.
Added another: “Today we don’t have emingo, urine bag, ivy fluids, X-ray film and life saving drug like Effcorlin, which is a must. Basic things like Ivy set are not in stock for patients. Patients have to buy these from outside.”
The BMC authorities, however, pass the buck to the hospital store room at Sion. “We have sanctioned 5 of 12 schedules in the past one month. Now it’s the responsibility of the hospital store room at Sion to meet the demands of individual pharmacies in BMC hospitals,” said Ravindra Pawar, Leader of Opposition in the standing committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The five schedules are tablets and capsules, injections and vaccine, cream ointment and syrups, sutures and syringes.
According to the sources at the medicine tender section at Sion hospital, there is a serious dearth of paracetamol and doxycyclin. But Dr Nilima Barse, head of the medicine supplies and deputy dean at the hospital, denied any shortage in her hospital. “We are waiting for the standing committee resolution copy and once we get it, hospitals can place their orders to individual contractors.”
Asked about the delay, Barse said: “Instead of waiting for all 60 items to be passed, we divided it into 20:40 out of which 40 items of schedule II were passed in June itself and 20 were left out. Unfortunately, all these were basic medicines. It is the duty of the individual pharmacist to place the order and follow it up,” she said.
Pawar blames it on poor vigilance. “Vigilance is an important issue. Are the drugs reaching the hospitals? Is the supply coming on time? Are they resold outside? All these issues need to be monitored,” he said.
Meanwhile, poor patients for whom BMC hospitals are meant, suffer.
“We come to BMC hospitals because we cannot afford to go to private hospital. Both my wife and son are down with fever. Now, I have to forego cremaffin to afford the other four,” he said.
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=211462