KOLKATA: The crisis in hospital beds triggered by an unprecedented rise in
Covid cases in the city has been further accentuated by a shortage of two key medicines used to treat serious patients.
Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, and
Tocilizumab, an immunosupressive drug that is used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, are either in short supply or not available in market channels. The crisis in these two drugs prompted chief minister
Mamata Banerjee to write to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Sunday and seek the Centre’s assistance for emergency supply to treat critical patients admitted in hospitals.
According to the letter, Bengal currently requires 6,000 vials of
Remdesivir and 1,000 vials of Tocilizumab daily. While the state is able to procure around 1,000 vials of Remdesivir a day, there is no Tocilizumab vial available.
However, these drugs are not to be taken without permission from doctors.
Chandresh Sanghvi, a pharmaceutical dealer and member of the Bagree Market Medicine Association, believes Remdesivir stocks that are lying with various stockists or retailers will hit the market this week as the government has issued a notification reducing prices.
“Since medicines cannot be sold at prices higher than MRP, the Remdesivir stock in the market will be cleared soon as it is priced higher than the batches of medicine that will arrive next,” he said.
Pankaj Vora, another drug-seller in Bagree Market, said he had received multiple requests from clients for these two drugs but had been unable to supply them. “I don’t know when the supply will normalize,” he said.
After the Remdesivir crisis first surfaced, pharmaceutical companies were asked by the Centre to deliver the drugs directly to hospitals and doctors according to their requirement.
Sanghvi and other medicine wholesalers at Bagree Market and Mehta Building said that the crisis was an artificial one caused by panic purchase and hoarding by an affluent section of the population.
Raju Khandelwal of Dhanwantary chain, which retails medicines, said demand for both Remdesivir and Tocilizumab was high but he was unable to supply them as they were being sent directly to hospitals. “If a doctor prescribes any of these medicines to a patient in home isolation, then it is a problem,” he said.
An administrator of a city hospital said supply was inadequate and suggested helplines to acquire these two drugs. However, there have been reports of some hospitals allegedly telling patients’ families to source these drugs from agents at a premium.
Gautam Jatia of Frank Ross, however, said its stores at
AMRI Hospitals had adequate stock, but it was only meant for indoor patients. They were unable to sell it to outdoor patients, he said.