Jaipur: Under the ‘Free Medicine Scheme’ in Rajasthan, medicines worth crores of rupees are being given free to lakhs of people. The scheme sounds very good, but the truth behind it is very ‘bitter’.
From the year 2019 to June 2024, 795 samples of medicines related to cancer, blood, heart and antibiotics have failed. The worrying situation is that by the time the drug department takes the sample and the test report comes, lakhs of people have already consumed the medicines.
Here, FSDC has filed only 12 percent cases in the name of action. In these too, only a nominal number of licenses were suspended. Due to lack of strictness in rules and negligence of the officials, the samples of medicines supplied through RMSCL failed. To bring out the truth, Dainik Bhaskar examined the data of five years. Most of the medicines are made in Baddi. Samples of medicines related to heart and blood have failed the most. Samples of medicines including painkillers, antibiotics, steroids, antiemetic, hormonal, cancer, lungs also did not pass the test.
1 lakh tablets in one batch, they get used up by the time the report comes
It takes about a month from taking the sample to getting the report. By then, the substandard medicines have already reached the patients from the drug warehouse and hospital. There are at least one lakh tablets in a batch.
Samples of expensive medicines are not taken
Samples of expensive medicines supplied in RMSCL are hardly taken. Reason…injections and tablets for diseases like cancer cost from one to three lakh rupees. Now if a sample of even one medicine has to be taken, the entire amount has to be deposited.
RMSCL gets all the medicines tested. They are sent to hospitals only after they pass. Drug control officers take samples from medicine stores and hospitals. Their report also goes to RMSCL. If the report shows that the medicine is substandard, then its use is stopped and the stock is rejected. Debarring and financial action is taken against the firm as per the tender conditions. The Drug Control Department takes legal action. -Neha Giri, MD, RMSCL
91 medicines made in Rajasthan and 27 medicines made in Delhi NCR failed
Investigation revealed that the maximum 338 (42%) samples of medicines manufactured in Himachal Pradesh and 134 samples of medicines manufactured in Uttarakhand have failed. 91 samples of Rajasthan, 51 of Gujarat, 27 of Delhi-NCR have failed. 154 samples of other states including Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir have failed.
… but there is no cure for negligence
Despite the samples failing every month, the department is not taking any strict action. This can be gauged from the fact that cases were filed in only 12 percent of the cases in five and a half years. Some licenses were suspended for 90 days. These include distributors’ licenses as well.
