Moga drug theft: A wake-up call for hospital security

THE theft of buprenorphine injections worth about Rs 7 lakh from Moga Civil Hospital reveals institutional slack that endangers patients, subverts deaddiction programmes and risks expanding the supply of powerful opioids into local illicit markets. Buprenorphine, a controlled opioid used both for pain management and deaddiction therapy, is not an ordinary drug. In the wrong hands, it can fuel the very addiction it is meant to cure and intensify the state’s already fragile battle against substance abuse. The missing stock was discovered when the staff opened the store; preliminary reports say locks were broken and CCTV or guards were not active, raising questions about security and possible insider complicity. The immediate harm is to patients who may be deprived of legitimate treatment; the longer-term harm is the leakage of clinically important opioids into streets where they can substitute for heroin and fuel addiction cycles — something that the state is desperately trying to combat for decades.

This is not an isolated event; similar thefts were reported from Barnala last year, and the state’s deaddiction supply chain has long shown gaps. Such patterns suggest systemic negligence rather than a one-off break-in. The Punjab Health Department must secure drug stores with 24-hour CCTV coverage, biometric access and strict inventory audits. Accountability must extend to the hospital administration, not just the unidentified culprits. The state government should also digitise narcotic-drug tracking and introduce random inspections at all district hospitals. At the same time, police and health authorities should investigate the possibility of insider involvement swiftly and transparently.

The Moga incident should serve as a turning point to reinforce the credibility of the healthcare system. Failure to act will mean compromised treatment and avoidable addiction harm. Timely reforms, not routine inquiries, are the corrective that the system now urgently needs.