New guidelines for Remdesivir injections to ‘check’ scramble

Noida: The scramble for Remdesivir injections is expected to go down in Gautam Budh Nagar in the coming days. From now on, any hospital prescribing the antiviral medication to a patient will have to also give in writing that it does not have any dose of the drug left in its stock if it asks their family members to procure the jab from elsewhere, officials said.
The hospital prescription will also have to mention a patient’s medical condition and the need for the injection. Officials of the district health department said on Thursday that the guidelines will soon be circulated to private hospitals as well as doctors, with an aim to bring down unnecessary usage of Remdesivir and also curb the black-marketing of the drug.
Chief medical officer of the district, Deepak Ohri said that the guidelines will be circulated within a day or two. “We have examined the advisories issued by the Union ministry of health, ICMR and also consulted experts from the Medical Council of India. Hospitals will have to give in writing they do not have any dose left and also mention the vitals of the patients along with the rationale for administering the drug,” he said.
President of the chemist association in Noida, Anoop Khanna, however, said that drug stores are anyway not allowed either to procure the injection or to sell it to the kin of the patients.