Tamil Nadu: Drugs control department launches probe into black marketing of Remdesivir

MADURAI: Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department on Friday launched an investigation into the illegal sale of Remdesivir, the anti-viral drug used to treat Covid-19 patients, in the black market for exorbitant prices. This follows a TOI expose of the nefarious practice in a report titled “Rs 3,000/vial Remdesivir sold for Rs 12,000 in TN” on Friday.
The report had said that many ‘agents’ were sourcing and selling the drugs for Covid-19 patients seeking treatment in private hospitals. Director of the state drugs control department, K Sivabalan, told TOI that an investigation is on. “We have taken some action. But the investigation is still ongoing as we have to take it up further. More details will be revealed soon,” he said.
The expose comes amid a shortage of not just Remdesivir, but other lifesaving drugs too like Favipiravir and Tocilizumab for Covid-19 treatment in the state. Private hospitals in Madurai said they have been finding it difficult to procure them.
Says Dr P Saravanan, Thiruparankundram MLA who also practises in his own hospital, “A vial of Remdesivir costs Rs 3,000 and six vials are required for treating a patient. I managed to buy the dosage for Rs 66,000 as each vial costs Rs 11,000 in the black market.’’ Similarly, a dosage of Tocilizumab, which is producing good results in severe cases, costs Rs 68,000 in the black market against its original price of Rs 30,000 in the open market. Hospitals have now started exchanging drugs based on availability, returning the favour when they get the medicine. Doctors in these hospitals say they should be given at least 40% of the medicines, keeping 60% for government hospitals.
Meanwhile, patients have been forced to shell out quite a fortune for the treatment. Kathiresan, whose 70-year-old father had been admitted to a private hospital, required the entire treatment protocol. ``I begged with the doctors to get the medicines at any cost. The dosage cost nearly Rs 2 lakh for the medicines alone but we did not think twice,’’ he said.
Almost all patients come forward to pay for the drug, but it is not that easily accessible even in the black market. ``We have to place orders and get them in two or three days, which is late for some patients,’’ said Dr Saravanan. This was making Covid treatment beyond the reach of patients from poor families, said another doctor. ``Private hospitals tell patients that the treatment would be very expensive in advance, so that they could go to the GRH, ’’ he said.
Wholesale pharmaceutical dealers in Madurai said that the drugs for Covid-19 treatment were in high demand. “We are unable to meet the required demand. When we ask manufacturers for ‘X’ number of vials of Remdesivir, we get only around 20%,” said the manager of a pharmaceutical on Naicker Street. However, Chemists and Druggists Association district president G Ganeshan claims there is no sale of drugs in the black market in Madurai. “ Besides, we do not keeping stocks of the medicines to prevent misuse and also because they have a short shelf life of just three months,” he said.