The GMCH hospital in Chandigarh (Source: Express Photo)
THE AUTHORITIES of Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh (GMCH) Sector 32 have asked all chemists operating at the institute to provide a list of medicines along with the names of their manufacturers and prices. The decision will help to keep tabs on the difference in prices of medicines sold by the chemists.
GMCH sources told Chandigarh Newsline that a meeting, chaired by the Additional Director Administration, was held recently to discuss the matter.
A senior GMCH official on Saturday said lots of complaints have been received against chemists at GMCH. These include charging a high price for medicines when the same salt medicine is available at a reasonable rate and the chemist shops are deliberately supplying substitute medicines, which are substandard, only for the sake of higher profit.
Sources said that at the meeting it was decided to issue a circular to the faculty for prescribed generic medicines or those with the lowest rates of same salt by renowned companies.
According to GMCH officials, it was decided that the OPD (Out Patient Department) cards of GMCH need to be modified and words, Supply following drugs or equivalent generic drugs” may be printed on the OPD cards issued by the hospital. A senior official said that it was also decided that till the time the OPD cards are modified, “a stamp bearing the same material may be made and manual stamping of OPD cards may be done”.
The authorities have decided that all the chemists operating on the GMCH premises will provide the list of medicines and companies manufacturing them along with their prices to the office of the Joint Medical Superintendent with immediate affect. “All the chemist shops will place the board showing no substitute medicines,” said the senior official, adding that the institute would bring “criminal proceedings” against the erring shopkeepers if GMCH received any complaint against the chemists.
Earlier this month, a CNL investigation showed how the price of the same medicine varied by up to Rs 1,500 at different chemists located on the PGI campus. PGI has constituted a high-level six-member committee to study the price difference of medicines sold by chemists within the institute.