Renewing the concern over the quality of drugs being dispensed to the gas survivors at the medical centres meant for their treatment, two survivors' organisations have urged the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee to conduct surprise inspections and collect random samples of the medicines.
The organisations have also urged the committee to send out the drugs for quality testing in accredited labs under its own supervision to ensure efficacy of the process.
The organisations, in a letter to the chairman of the monitoring committee justice VK Agrawal, said that at present, the staff of the respective hospital administrations sends the drugs for quality tests, defeating the very purpose of conducting such tests.
The letter has been sent out jointly by Abdul Jabbar of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan and ND Jayprakash of Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti (BGPSSS).
The letter cites the panel's own observation in its second quarterly report (submitted to high court) about the complaints related to sub-standard medicines being dispensed to the gas victims at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC), its outreach centres, the state government-run gas relief hospitals and clinics. In the report, the committee had recommended determination of an independent agency to test and certify the efficacy of the drugs.
The organisations have also urged the monitoring committee to direct the BMHRC and the state government to hand over data of gas victims being treated at respective medical facilities (3.86 lakh and 60,000 victims respectively) to the committee, so that estimated number of patients being treated at each department of the hospitals could be gauged. This would also help in developing appropriate treatment protocol for each type of ailment, they have said.
{{/usCountry}}The organisations have also urged the monitoring committee to direct the BMHRC and the state government to hand over data of gas victims being treated at respective medical facilities (3.86 lakh and 60,000 victims respectively) to the committee, so that estimated number of patients being treated at each department of the hospitals could be gauged. This would also help in developing appropriate treatment protocol for each type of ailment, they have said.
{{/usCountry}}