Hyderabad: In a major development, Telangana Government Doctors Association said on Saturday that the supply of sub-standard drugs by the Telangana Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation must be stopped.
They cited lack of quality control in procurement as the primary reason for the botched cataract surgeries at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, which affected a total of 13 patients.
Doctors are upset over the fact that they are being blamed for the saline fluids. The fungus in saline bottles seized from Nilofeur Hospital was brought to the attention of the TSMSIDC on June 30.
Dr Vinod Kumar, senior member of the association said, “We sent a video of the fungus growth in the saline bottle to TSMSIDC officials but there was no response. The batch of bottles was removed by the superintendent on the very same day.”
Cases have now been booked against five senior doctors of Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, and that has upset the doctors’ group. Dr Lalu Prasad, another senior member of association said, “How can criminal cases be booked against doctors when it is not the surgeons fault? These are experienced surgeons who have done over 50,000 surgeries. If they are in the wrong, then the mistakes would have been there throughout.”
At the same time, the TGDA is now asking why the TSMSIDC did not swing into action when a complaint was made by the Nilofeur superintendent on June 30.
2 lakh saline bottles seized
Two lakh saline bottles have been seized by the Drug Controller Administration (DCA) of Telangana from government hospitals in the state in the last two days.
A total of 93 batches of saline bottles have been sealed. There are 40 different varieties of IV fluids which are used for different purposes in different hospitals.
The DCA has also taken samples of sodium chloride injections, sodium lactate injections and ciprofloxacin. A report on their quality will be out in 14 days.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that there is no officer to check quality of products procured from pharma firms. The post has been lying vacant for the past six years.
“The state’s Medical Services And Infrastructure Development Corpora-tion has been reduced to a tendering agency. There are no quality checks. There are innumerable cases of substandard drugs and all government doctors have been complaining for a while now but no action has been taken,” a senior official said.
Pharma company Haseeb Pharmaceuticals — now under investigation for the contaminated saline at SD hospital — was supplying government hospitals 9.8 lakh saline bottles every year at a contract price of Rs 10 crore.
State officials now say an Allahabad-based pharma company has been contracted to supply the saline.
