Haffkine to quiz 2 pharmaceutical firms for selling it ‘blacklisted' medicines for government hospitals in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceuticals procurement cell will be seeking explanations from two pharmaceutical firms after it came to light that medicines ordered for govt hospitals across the state in Feb had been declared "not of standard quality" and blacklisted by Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) just two months earlier.
In Dec, ESIC issued a circular blacklisting specific drugs from seven pharmaceutical companies, citing test results that found these medicines to be of substandard quality and directing that no further orders be placed with them. However, Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceuticals placed large supply orders with two of the listed firms. This resulted in the procurement of nearly 21.9 lakh vials of Pantoprazole 40mg/10ml injection worth Rs 2.5 crore from Galpha Laboratories Ltd, and 88,650 tablets of Vildagliptin 50mg, along with Metformin Hydrochloride 1000mg worth nearly Rs 12.6 lakh, from Bajaj Healthcare Ltd.
Pantoprazole is used to treat acid-related stomach issues such as ulcers and acid reflux, while Vildagliptin with Metformin is prescribed to manage type 2 diabetes by controlling blood sugar levels. Although Haffkine is no longer the primary authority for medicine procurement, it was granted permission to utilise the remaining Rs 131.6 crore to restock medicines at state-run hospitals through a Govt Resolution (GR).
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"The procurement process must be based on ESIC rate contracts as received on the e-Aushadhi platform," the GR stated.
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A senior official at the procurement cell confirmed that they are looking into the matter.
"We have been orally informed by ESIC that the issue pertained to specific batches. Nevertheless, we have sought written responses from the companies as well as from ESIC. These will be submitted to higher authorities, and payments to the companies will be withheld until a reasonable explanation is provided," the official said, but did not provide the amount of payments to be withheld.
Abhay Pandey, of the All Food and Drug Licence Holders Foundation, who flagged the issue with medical education department officials, alleged that the existing rate contract was arbitrarily selected by Haffkine without verifying the blacklisting status of the companies or conducting additional tests on the medicines. Haffkine officials did not respond when asked whether random sampling of the procured products was conducted in accordance with the GR.
Dr Shashi Kolnoorkar, state ESIC director (Medical), said the blacklisting order came from the Delhi headquarters and that appropriate action had been taken at the time. When asked whether the blacklisting applied to specific batches or constituted a complete ban on the medicines in question, he referred the query to the ESIC head office.
Attempts were made to reach Dr Neeta Garbiyal, deputy medical commissioner at the ESIC head office, who had signed the blacklist circular, but she was unavailable for comment.
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