Govt ''prefers'' low-priced drugs over quality

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, February 19

The J&K Government seems to be giving preference to low prices of drugs, overlooking their quality, as another medicine used for patients suffering from critical brain conditions has been found to be substandard.

The procurement rules of the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL) — which is entrusted to procure and supply drugs to government-run hospitals — prioritise the lowest bidders for buying drugs, some of which are used for critical and life-threatening conditions.

According to the JKMSCL procurement guidelines, negotiations are held only with L1 (lowest) bidders.

“We procure drugs at lowest prices from quality bidders. We have laid down guidelines which a pharmaceutical company should fulfil to supply us the drugs,” said Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director, JKMSCL.

Despite assurance from the top officials, 53 drugs samples have been found “not standard” by the Drug Controller department since April 2016.

The latest drug to have been found spurious is Mannitol, an infusion drug used for brain edema.

The JKMSCL had on Monday shot letters to all hospital heads in the state, alerting them to “stop the use of Mannitol injections and send back the unconsumed stock immediately”.

The stock of several thousand containers of the Mannitol injections had been withdrawn from all  hospitals, officials said.

However, doctors have questioned the drug procurement process which they claim stresses more on lowest rates instead of the quality.

They said the government should invite tenders for the procurement from the pharmaceutical companies which have been certified by the World Health Organisation with good manufacturing practices (GMP).

The drugs which were available in the distribution system were quality drugs unless proved otherwise, doctors said. The onus of keeping the quality drugs available in hospitals and market was entirely the duty of government agencies set up for the purpose, including the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), they said.

“We as doctors think that keeping generic medications of the WHO-certified GMP companies in hospitals with strict quality control by the CDSCO will go a long way in providing affordable quality drugs to patients hence improving patient care,” said Dr Masood Rashid, general secretary, Doctors’Association, Kashmir.

“Procuring branded medicines from unknown pharmaceutical companies and calling them generic amounts to misleading people,” Rashid said. “We as doctors have absolutely no objection in writing generic names when generic-quality medicines are available in hospitals,” he said.