JJ Hospital gets ₹59 lakh clinical trial dues

JJ Hospital in Mumbai has received ?59 lakh ($79,000) from doctors involved in clinical drug trials following an investigation by a five-member committee. The preliminary report found that many principal investigators had not followed due diligence, failing to keep records or understand the trials. The committee will continue its investigation into the trials, while the report will be submitted to the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. The investigation also found that the ex-dean of the hospital had signed a memorandum of understanding with a private firm without following government-defined renting rates.

Mumbai: While the five-member committee set up by JJ Hospital on June 21 to investigate the clinical drug trials done at the institution since 2018 submitted a preliminary report to dean, Dr Pallavi Saple, on Monday, the hospital has received ₹59 lakh from the doctors involved in the trials.

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The committee headed by Dr Ameeta Joshi, head of the microbiology department, was formed to initially investigate the role of a private firm—Parshwa Life Sciences (PLS) and Dr Hemant Gupta, honorary physician.

Dr Gupta’s name had also surfaced in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation as he was one of the four partners at the Worli-based M/S Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), a firm that secured the contract from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to supply manpower for the jumbo Covid centres at Dahisar and Worli.

“In the preliminary report, it was found that most of the principal investigators of the clinical drug trials had not followed due diligence. They did not keep records of the trials and had no idea of what the trial was all about,” a senior official from the hospital said. While the report will be submitted to the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the committee will continue with the investigation.

“It is an extensive investigation. We are still questioning the doctors on the clinical trials. As we are doing it, many doctors have deposited the due amount. So far ₹59 lakh has been deposited,” the official added. HT on July 1 reported on JJ Hospital dean asking the committee to streamline the clinical trials at the institution.

HT on June 30 reported that the committee found that ex-dean Dr Mukund Tayade had in 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a private firm, Parshwa Life Sciences (PLS), under which the latter would pay ₹2 lakh in rent to the hospital for using pharmacology department’s three rooms for the clinical drug trials.

The MoU also mentioned the ex-medical superintendent of St George Hospital, who was also the ex-head of the pharmacology department as the coordinator. The doctor, presently employed at JJ Hospital is also co-investigator in many of the drug trials. “The committee found he did not do his job as a coordinator and had no idea why 14 people were working in that office every day and doing what,” the official said.

The committee also found that Dr Tayade arbitrarily fixed the rent amount in the MoU without following the government-defined renting rate. “The government has defined the commercial renting rate at ₹150 per square feet per month. We have asked the state government’s public works department to give us the total area of the three rooms to help us calculate the rent which is due from 2018,” the official added.