Indian Hospitals Receiving Substandard And Fake Drugs

A scandal over the supply of substandard and even spurious drugs has hitthe Indian state hospitals sector, notably in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Drugs are supplied to hospitals from plants owned and controlled by the government but, say documents leaked to the press in New Delhi, corruption seems to have invaded the system.

A network of traders and dealers has, it is said, connived with state government and company officials to supply drugs labeled as marketed by Central Plus. One newspaper says senior officials in the Chemicals Ministry and Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd are involved.

The scandal surfaced after Uttar Pradesh's Drugs Control Authority began legal action against some IDPL subsidiaries. State drug controller Dr K Aswathi says the cases are still in the pipeline and declines to give details, but the system entails purchases made for the government through the Health Department through comparative price tendering, in line with the 1989 Drug Price Control Order. While contracts are generally awarded to public-sector (state-owned) drug firms, these very rarely supply products that they themselves have made.