High Court directive to TS sought on having online tracking system for drug supply

HYDERABAD: An urgent petition came up before the Telangana High Court on Monday, seeking the setting up of an online tracking system by the Telangana government to fast-track applications from patients for life-saving drugs to cure the black fungus infection, especially liposomal amphotericin-B.

Advocate T. Jayant Jayasooriya filed the PIL, describing the agony of black fungus patients and how they are desperately waiting for their turn for the injections due to the short supply. A division bench of the High Court headed by the Chief Justice will hear the case on Tuesday.

The petitioner wants the state government to call global tenders to procure the drug in injection form and direct the Union government to enhance the state's quota for the vials.

The situation in the state, the petitioner said, has been messed up since the director of the Drugs Control Administration issued a circular directing the manufacturers, stockists, suppliers of liposomal amphotericin-B to not issue any stock directly to the hospitals or the patients. As per the circular, the stocks cannot be released without recommendations of the committee constituted by the government on drugs release.

“There is no tracking facility available to know the status of the patient’s application. The present system is depriving the black fungus patients of their right to get the injections done on time. The delay in the procedure is proving to be fatal. The fungus is further spreading into the jaws, eyes and other parts of the body,” the petitioner told the court,” the court was told.

The petitioner said the press releases and statements by the state government and its machinery kept saying that steps had been taken to procure sufficient drugs and that there was no scarcity of liposomal amphotericin-B injections. On contrary, patients are waiting for days to get the drug and they are not in a position to know when they would get it, the petitioner said.