BHUBANESWAR: Five in every six vials of Covid-19 drugs brought by the state government at a cost of Rs 42.21 crore were never used and expired on the shelf, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit has found.
Acting on recommendations of its technical committee, the Health and Family Welfare department procured 4,550 vials of Casirivimab and Imdevimab (120 mg/ml), a Covid-19 medicine, in three tranches through the Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited (OSMCL). However, only 711 vials were used and the remaining 3,839, which accounted for 84 per cent of the total purchase, expired.
The CAG also pointed at wasteful expenditure on treatment for Mucormycosis, a fungal infection that followed Covid-19. In July 2021, the OSMCL procured 10,000 vials of Amphotericin-B-Liposomal (50 mg) at a cost of Rs 5.51 crore. As of July 31, 2024, state health facilities had administered only 550 vials. The remaining 9,450 vials went entirely unused, resulting in direct wasteful expenditure of Rs 5.21 crore, the audit revealed.
The audit, which covers April 2019 to January 2025, found that medical supplies worth around Rs 215 crore were unused and expired, pointing to severe irregularities and inventory mismanagement in healthcare procurement.
OSMCL is responsible for procuring drugs, equipment and surgical supplies for government healthcare institutions, and monitors stock centrally through the e-Niramaya application.
The CAG observed systemic failures in demand forecasting, inventory management and the procurement of drugs with short shelf-life, which together led to the heavy losses.
The audit pointed out that between April 2019 and January 2025, a total of 15.43 crore units of drugs spanning 700 categories, valued at Rs 167.91 crore, along with sanitary napkins worth Rs 94.05 lakh, were expired. This overall expired stock comprised Rs 68.90 crore worth donated supplies and Rs 99.01 crore worth state-funded purchases.
