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Six tocilizumab vials go missing from Patiala’s Rajindra hospital
An FIR has been registered against unidentified persons after the hospital authorities filed a written complaint with the senior superintendent of police
Six tocilizumab vials went missing from the isolation ward of Covid care centre at government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, police said on Friday.
An FIR has been registered against unidentified persons after the hospital authorities filed a written complaint with the senior superintendent of police (SSP).
A single vial of the medicine costs around ₹34,000 and is provided to hospitals at government price only.
These injections are administered to critical Covid patients, mainly on ventilator support.
“An internal committee has been set up to investigate the matter,” said Surabhi Malik, in-charge of Covid-19 care facility of the hospital.
She added that it was a serious issue and must be probed thoroughly.
It may be mentioned here that the isolation wards of the hospital are under tight surveillance of CCTV cameras. Even cops have been deployed outside the wards to restrict entry of outsiders.
When asked about the role of hospital staffers in the theft, Malik said it was too early to come to a conclusion as the matter was under investigation.
This incident took place early this week, but came to the light only after police registered an FIR under section 380 (theft) of the IPC on Thursday evening.
“There is already severe shortage of these injections in the market. The hospitals procured remdevisir and tocilizumab on demand from health department. Moreover, the price of a single tocilizumab injection in black market is pegged between ₹80,000 and ₹1 lakh,” said a senior doctor.
Meanwhile, medical college principal Dr Rajan Singla said a three-member committee of senior professors has been constituted to investigate the matter so that responsibility could be fixed.
Civil Lines SHO Gurpreet Singh said they were scanning footage from the CCTV cameras installed at the hospital.
“Other technical and physical evidences are also being looked into to identify the accused,” he added.
