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Bombay HC orders state to allot 20K Remdesivir vials to Nagpur, Akola, Bhandara
The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the state to allot 20,000 Remdesivir vials to Nagpur, Akola and Bhandara by Saturday evening, in addition to their regular quota
The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the state to allot 20,000 Remdesivir vials to Nagpur, Akola and Bhandara by Saturday evening, in addition to their regular quota. The court also warned that any failure in providing the drug in adequate quantity would be considered a breach of Article 21 (Right to Life) and attract penal provisions against erring officials.
HC’s directions came after these districts, in the past 10 days, had a backlog of the drug, used in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
With this order, Nagpur will get 15,000 additional vials of Remdesivir, while Bhandara and Akola will get 2,000 and 3,000 vials, respectively.
A division bench of justice Sunil Shukre and justice Avinash Gharote, while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL), passed the order after a five-hour marathon hearing.
“If we do not rise to the occasion, it would lead to unmitigated disaster,” the court noted while asking the state to respect the right to life of all citizens and reminding it about the duty to provide all necessary health infrastructure to fight this pandemic.
Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Vijay Waghmare, who is the nodal officer for Remdesivir, informed the court that till Thursday, the state had received 308,000 vials, while another 34,000 vials are in transit, and 94,000 vials are expected in the next two days.
HC asked the officer to finalise a district-wise plan and fix entitlement of each district by Friday night and disburse the Remdesivir received as per Centre’s revised allotment letter, dated April 24. HC expressed dismay to note that despite repeated orders, such entitlement order has not been passed so far.
Amicus curiae (friend of court) Shreerang Bhandarkar and Indian Medical Association’s counsel advocate Bhanudas Kulkarni informed HC that From April 21-30 (barring April 28-29), Nagpur had received 23,198 vials, with a shortfall of 25,479 vials, as per the Centre’s allotment formula based on active patient load.
The senior officers present during the hearing informed that around 3,500 vials are being received and later allotted around 4,423 vials for Nagpur.
At Akola, the daily requirement of Remdesivir vials is 900, while there is a deficit of 300-500 vials per day.
Similarly, Bhandara requires 1,110 vials per day but receives only 200.
Similar shortfalls are reported from all districts.
HC noted that the entire state is reeling under acute shortage of Remdesivir, but considering the number of serious patients admitted in these districts, at least additional 25,000 vials are required for Vidarbha districts, and they must be supplied by the state.
HC asked the state to discontinue the private purchases of Remdesivir, as it is leading to more confusion. The state can invoke powers under Disaster Management Act to go for direct purchase by discarding tender process and get it from private manufacturer for the price finalised by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
HC again reminded private hospitals and doctors to use Remdesivir judiciously and stop its indiscriminate prescription. The World Health Organization (WHO) and medical experts have described it only as an investigational drug. But some of the doctors are not paying any heed to WHO guidelines and expert opinion, HC lamented. It directed private hospitals to not give direct prescription to patient or relatives to procure Remdesivir on their own and avoid prevailing chaos.
