AT ₹20,000 A VIAL
Govt doctor arrested for selling Remdesivir in the black market
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai:05.05.2021
A government hospital doctor in Chennai and a pharmacist were arrested on Tuesday by Tamil Nadu civil supplies crime investigation department (CID) for selling Remdesivir in black market.
The duo was arrested during a routine vehicle inspection at Guindy. P Ramasundaram, 25, working with the governmentrun health centre King's Institute of Preventive Medicine and Hospital in Guindy, was found illegally carrying 12 vials of Remdesivir, which was meant for treatment of Covid-19 patients at the health centre.
His aide N Karthick, 27, who works as a pharmacist at Guindy hospital, confessed to the police that they sneaked the drug and sold it at ₹20,000 per vial to patients, who were in dire need at private hospitals, an official release from police stated. Karthick was in possession of another 12 vials at the time of arrest. Police seized all the 24 vials.
They were remanded in judicial custody, the release added. This was the first time government healthcare workers were booked for black marketing of Remdesivir. Last week, three private hospital doctors and pharma vendors were arrested in Chennai for similar crime.
All the accused have been booked under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and various other sections of IPC.
There have been complaints about people buying Remdesivir from government counters at Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital for ₹1,568 per vial and later selling them in black.
Meanwhile, the queue at KMC Remdesivir counters is getting longer. Relatives of Covid-19 patients, who have travelled to Chennai from other districts, have been seen waiting for 8 to12 hours to get the drug.
Tamil Nadu health authorities said that they were selling roughly 1,500 to 2,000 vials per day .
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