Drug supplied at OOAT clinics in Punjab fails quality test

Vishav Bharti

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Chandigarh, June 6

The samples of medicine (provided by two firms), which are given to addicts at the de-addiction centres, have failed the quality test.

According to government officials, the amount of salt has been found more than the prescribed limit in the tablets of psychotropic drug which is a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone salts. The government procures around eight crore burenorphine tablets every year for around 500 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics and de-addiction centres. Both the companies were main suppliers of the medicine.

Plaints received

We got some complaints from private de-addiction centres, so we decided to go for a quality check. Three samples have failed in dissolution. These batches belong to 2019 and 2020. Neelima, MD, PHSC

Neelima, Managing Director, Punjab Health Systems Corporation, said, “We got complaints from private de-addiction centres, so we decided to go for a quality check. Three samples have failed in dissolution. These batches belong to 2019 and 2020. If the issue is with dissolution, it means the problem is in formulation of the drug. Retesting by central lab can be done only through the court.”

One of the firm failed quality test during pre-testing after samples were taken from the government warehouses before supplying them to the centres. The second firm failed the quality test after samples were taken from various OOAT clinics and de-addiction centres.

Meanwhile, a significant amount of the medicine was already consumed by patients. Failing of samples also cast shadow over the de-addiction programme as the government has been planning to expand it massively by allowing even general physicians to prescribe the medicine to addicts after training.

Earlier, the same companies were awarded contract for supplying the de-addiction medicine, despite being under suspicion of fleecing the government by raising the price through “price pooling”.

In alleged violation of the norms, the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) had awarded contract worth over Rs 52 crore to the two firms for supplying de-addiction medicine. The order for annual supply of 80 lakh strips of buprenorphine and naloxone tablets was placed despite the suspected “price pooling” by the firms. The move would cost the exchequer Rs 3.76 crore per year extra.