MADURAI: A video alleging the hoarding of antiviral drug Remdesivir at the Madurai Medical College campus by a staffer of the Government Rajaji Hospital has been going viral on social media platforms. Relatives of patients also allege irregularities in issuing tokens for the sale of Remdesivir.
Coming as a huge relief for patients from down south, who have been running from pillar to post to source the drug, the sale of Remdesivir began on May 8 at the Madurai Medical College. While 500 vials of the drug are given to Madurai every day, each vial is being sold at a cost of Rs 1,568.
Through the counter, Remdesivir can be bought for patients admitted in any district and in both government and private hospitals. To obtain Remdesivir, medical records and documents such as RT-PCR test report, CT scan report, doctor's prescription and photocopies of the Aadhaar card of the patient as well as the buyer must be submitted to the team of doctors and pharmacists present at the counter for cross-verification.
As hundreds of people throng the venue at a time, hospital authorities have adopted a token system since Monday. The drug was sold to 81 persons on May 8, 79 on May 10 and 75 on May 11. The next 75 in the queue are given tokens to purchase the medicine the next day.
Meanwhile, in a recent video that went viral, a hospital staffer employed by a private company on a contract basis is seen taking a green bag to a room and keeping it inside a small drum that is usually used as a dustbin. The son of a COVID-19 patient, who took the video, is seen involved in an altercation with the staffer who had allegedly been promising to give the medicines to him for over three days now.
Revealing that the bag contains Remdesivir, the staffer argues that the drugs kept in the room were bought with proper documents for his relatives who were COVID positive. The police officer deployed for security is also seen threatening the patient's son stating that it was illegal for him to enter inside the college.
"I was neither asked to stand in the queue nor was aware of the token system. Rather, he has been promising that he will give me the medicine soon. I also saw him distributing the drug to others from the same room," alleged the son.
Many other relatives of COVID patients who have been standing in the queue for two to three days alleged irregularities in issuing tokens and medicines.
"I have brought all the necessary medical records and have been waiting for over two days now. When I reached the counter, the staff said that the CT report should be scored out of 100 and not 25. After a long argument, they agreed to give four vials of the drug but said that I have to wait again in the queue to get another two vials. As per doctor's prescription I need six vials. Besides, each hospital follows a different format in medical reports. How can we be blamed for it?" asked Rajesh (name changed), son of a COVID-19 patient.
Nandha Gopal, who was also waiting in the queue, said, "After the medicines were issued for the 75 persons in the line on Tuesday, they started issuing tokens. I was first among those to get the token. But my token number was 15. There were no others waiting before me. So, who gets the first 15 tokens, while we have been here in the queue day and night?" he asked.
He also added that neither were hand sanitisers given nor were they checked for temperature before entering the campus. "It could become a potential hotspot, if the standard operating procedures are not followed," he added.
Responding to the allegations, the Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital and Madurai Medical College Hospital, Dr J Sangumani, said there was no evidence that the bag contained Remdesivir. Besides it's the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation Limited staff who look into distribution of drugs and tokens for the antiviral drug, while the GRH has only allocated the building. "If the hospital staff are found to be involved in irregularities, immediate action would be taken after the enquiry," he said.