Panic as Remdesivir stocks dry up in Hyderabad private hospitals

HYDERABAD:  A panic-like situation has set in across Hyderabad following a sharp rise in Covid-19 patients requiring critical care. The situation is further worsened as a majority of these patients in private hospitals require Remdesivir drug, which is suddenly in short supply across major hospitals.

With hospitals running out of stocks, the patients are being asked to procure the drug from their own sources. It is learnt that people are being forced to pay anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 more for each vial of the drug, which costs around Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 depending on the brand. A patient on an average needs about six to 12 vials.

“We had to contact pharmacies which have no stock left. Ultimately, we found a hospital which provided us with vials a few weeks short of expiry and charged an additional sum for it,” said a resident of Vijay Nagar.

Helplines set up to prevent drug hoarding

However, a majority of the attendants of the patients are unable to even find the drug, even in the black market. “It has been more than two days since my friend has been running around for Remdesivir drug. His father’s lung capacity is affected by 60 per cent and the saturation has been fluctuating. The hospital just informed us to get the vial, but we have tried almost all sources and unable to get the same,” said another.

The situation has worsened to the extent that pharma companies have set up helplines to send the drug directly to the hospitals in need, owing to an acute shortage. “We have limited stocks at the moment, owing to which we are directly supplying the vials to the hospitals to prevent hoarding,” said an official from Hetero Drugs.

Meanwhile, an official of a corporate hospital said, “The situation is okay now. However, stocks may not be available in the next week. We have to plan accordingly.”