BHUBANESWAR: Senior Scientific Officer V Chittaranjan Patro and his fellow scientists spend at least 12 hours a day in a 25,000 sq ft drug-testing laboratory to ensure that samples sent by Odisha State Medical Corporation Ltd (OSMCL) are quality-checked.
The State Drug Testing and Research Laboratory here is the lone laboratory for analytical quality control of majority of imported drugs. With the procurement of drugs and medical consumables rising manifold for containment of COVID-19, testing officials are on their toes.
Along with drug samples collected from different parts of the State, the laboratory has been entrusted with the test of analgesic, antibiotic, anti-histaminic and antimalarial drugs like paracetamol, azithromycin, cetirizine and hydroxychloroquine procured by OSMCL.
“As there is no specific drug for coronavirus, focus is to check quality of drugs applied for treatment. Besides, we are also testing quality of oral rehydration solutions and sanitiser. The target has now increased from 300 samples to 600 per month,” said Patro, who is also a Government analyst.
As their monthly target of testing drugs has doubled, all scientific officers and senior laboratory assistants (SLAs) are working overtime with skeletal staff at the laboratory. Of the sanctioned strength of 43, 31 of them, including three SSOs, five JSOs and 22 SLAs led by Principal Scientific Officer are now positioned.
Although duration of testing depends of the category of drug, injectables take up to 21 days after sterile preparation. The quality of normal drug formulations like tablets and syrups can be obtained within two to five days of process.
Drugs Controller Mamina Patnaik said despite staff constraints the team has completed testing of 60 samples in a few days. “The drugs are being tested on priority basis to cater to the needs of medical corporation. Besides, we are also monitoring the supply of oxygen cylinders from local manufacturers,” she said.Their job demands even more time now after the State started door-to-door delivery of drugs due lockdown.
Sampling target