Thiruvananthapuram: The government hospitals in the state are facing an acute shortage of life-saving medicines as the dues of the Health Department payable to pharmaceutical companies have accumulated to nearly Rs 500 crore.
The department owed companies Rs 200 crore last year and over Rs 300 crore this year. Though the Health Department approached the Finance Department several times, the latter turned down the requests, citing the financial crisis.
The medicines for hospitals are procured through the Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSCL), which failed to pay the companies for the supply of medicines in three phases. Hence, many companies have frozen the supply of medicines in the last stage of delivery. If the finance department does not relent, the shortage of medicines will continue until March.
The issue has affected the smooth functioning of primary health centres and medical colleges. Only one-third of the required medicines are available in the cancer treatment departments of medical college hospitals. Medicines for heart disease and stroke are also not adequate.
A variety of drugs for diabetic patients, including insulin, metformin, and glimepiride for diabetic patients, are not available in many hospitals.
There is also a shortage of various medicines, including Amlo to reduce hypertension, atorvastatin for cholesterol, clopidogrel to avoid blood clotting, fluconazole to treat fungal infections, azithromycin, an antibiotic given to infected people, and pantoprazole to reduce acidity.
The stoppage of drug exchanges between hospitals also contributed to shortages. Until two years ago, a review meeting of government pharmacists was held at the district level every month. There, the availability of medicines in each hospital was checked and delivered from a hospital with more stock to a hospital facing a shortage. With the suspension of this meeting, the opportunity for this kind of drug exchange disappeared.
The hospital has a stock of the medicines; probe into the ‘difficulty’ encountered by the patient.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George said the ‘Malayala Manorama’ front-page report titled ‘Marunninilla Marannu’ (no medicine stock, even for the namesake) published on Tuesday has come to her attention.
The director of the health department has been asked to initiate a probe if the patient encountered any difficulty, despite the medicine being available at the hospital dispensary, the minister said.
The ‘Manorama’ report cited that out of the nine medicines prescribed by a doctor at the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital to a patient, six of them were not available at the hospital pharmacy.
The minister, however, said the pharmacy had stock of all the medicines prescribed as of Tuesday morning, as per the Drug Distribution Management System (DDMS).
“Alternative drugs were available at the pharmacy, even for those medicinal brands that were not available. If the doctors prescribe medicines outside the ‘Essential Drug List’, then the same may not be available in the pharmacy. That’s why a direction was issued to mention the drug's chemical name as well. The hospitals have been asked to mandatorily hold a prescription audit once a month to examine whether the doctors are following directions without fail and not prescribing antibiotics unnecessarily. The report itself states that the patient had received three of the prescribed medicines initially and then four others later. But the headline reads ‘Maranninilla Mararunnu’. Out of the lot, one medicine was not included in the ‘Essential Drug List’ (to be supplied by the government),” the minister explained.
'The headline reflects the situation that existed during the tenure of the UDF government.
“The headline ‘Marunninilla Marunnu’ is apt to reflect the condition that prevailed during the 2011–2016 period under the UDF government. Though the headline is like that, as one goes through the full report, it’s clear that just one or two medicines were not there at the hospital pharmacy, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during his speech at the venue of the last Nava Kerala meeting held at Kolenchery.
The daughter’s fever is yet to subside; Binu Kumar is to visit the hospital again
Meanwhile, Balaramapuram native Binu Kumar is set to take his daughter again to the hospital today as she is yet to recover from the severe fever and body pain, despite seeking treatment at three government hospitals within a week.
His one-and-a-half-year-old son had succumbed to a brain disease 14 years ago. His wife, Asha, is suffering from a condition in which the hip joint has started wearing away. However, he has no money to treat her. Though he started constructing a house using the amount provided under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the construction is yet to be completed. He couldn’t repay Rs 1.60 lakh, taken as a loan, and is facing the threat of his assets being attached.
