Distribution of expired medicines by government hospital came to the fore after a four-year-old boy was given a drug, four months after its expiry, at the Rajiv Gandhi Women and Children Hospital on Wednesday.
S Kishore from Olandhaikeerapalayam was brought to the hospital by his father Senthil Kumar on Wednesday morning after receiving a phone call from his school that the boy was vomiting. The doctor found the child dehydrated and prescribed him ORS.
“Kishore was given ORS, which I got from the hospital. However, as he continued to vomit, I checked the ORS packet and found that it had expired. The ORS was manufactured in February 2012 with an expiry after 18 months from the date of manufacture,” said Senthil Kumar producing the ORS packets and the hospital prescription. After finding that the drug had expired, home made ORS was given to Kishore, following which he recovered.
This could be only the tip of the iceberg as there might be other expired medicines which would have been distributed to patients. Normally, the patients are given medicine in small packets and not strips and hence they don’t have any way to know whether the medicines are expired or not.
This shows lack of monitoring in the manner in which the drugs are distributed, said CPI State secretary R Viswanathan. No one knows how many expired medicines are still in stock and are being distributed, said Viswanathan. He demanded that the existing drugs be checked and a report submitted to the government.
A complaint with regard to the expired medicines would be made to the secretary, health, who is the Comptroller of Drugs, and to the Child Protection Committee, said Viswanathan.
He also alleged that some specialist doctors serving in GHs were doing malpractice, which is going uncontrolled by the authorities. Citing an example, he said that an orthopedic surgeon was taking hefty sums from patients ( who have suffered fractures) for surgeries in Government General Hospital. The patients are also directed to make purchases of implants and other accessories from a particular place, said Viswanathan.
“There is no regulation in the sale of drugs by medical shops,” alleged Viswanathan and added that the same drugs were sold at various rates in different shops. There should be periodic inspection by the secretary, health, instead of just confining to his work.
Criticising the Health Department for inept functioning, he said already there is deficiency in extending medical care at various places including PHCs, Government General Hospital and Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, which has been pointed out by the CPI through agitations. Lack of drugs, deficient doctors, nurses and paramedical staff are affecting the delivery of health care, said Viswanathan further.