As huge profits lure criminals, IB and police trail hoarders of Remdesivir across country

From Intelligence Bureau IB to various state police organisations almost all major law enforcing agencies in the country are trailing criminal gangs peddlers hoarders stockists and black marketeers suspected of amassing doses of Remdesivir the most potent drug for treating coronavirus In UP and MP special squads have been formed while in Maharashtra and Gujarat police commissioners of several districts are working round the clock to prevent pilferage of the wonder drugOur STF teams and district police squads have busted several modules in the state arresting more than 46 people accused of hoarding Remdesivir and even medical oxygen cylinders said Prashant Kumar Additional Director General of Police ADG Law and Order Uttar Pradesh where acute shortage of Remdesivir resulted in deaths of many patientsLure of huge profit margins often five times of the actual value of a Remdesiver vial have even tempted hospital staff to dupe patient We unearthed an ongoing racket in a prominent medical college where ward boys were selling Remdesivir in black market The medical staff administered distilled water injections to patients and instead sold their genuine Remdesivir injections at a whopping price of Rs 25000 an SP rank officer saidThere have been similar complaints from attendants of patients in other private hospitals too On involvement of local distributors and stockists of such drugs ADG UP Prashant Kumar said that nexus between certain chemists shops or a few stockists cannot be ruled out We are verifying specific inputs where stockists concerned with distribution of these injections are involved in hoarding Once booked we will slap NSA National Security Act against such culprits the ADG told IANSEach injection of Remdesivir costing around Rs 3400 to Rs 5400 is being sold for over Rs 30000 to 40000 in black market In Nagpur the acute shortage of these life saving drugs saw a steep rise in the prices The police arrested five persons in Nagpurs Beltarodi area on Saturday for selling Remdesivir at price of Rs 45000 per vial in the black market Obviously the hoarders were making profit ten times higher than the actual MRP of the injectionAs the gap between supply and sudden demand of this potent drug has widened immediate audit of stocks of distributors stockists and big retailers is necessary The government agencies have to plug the pilferage of this drug at all costs said Rajnikant Mishra former Joint Director of CBI and DG of Border Security Force adding its a shame that some people have stooped so low to steal life saving drugs The crime is awful than a murderIn yet another shocking incident in Ujjain Madhya Pradesh eight people including three hospital staffers were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing and blackmarketing Remdesivir The police revealed that staffers would cart away injections meant for patients for a private hospital and then through a network of agents sell it at exorbitant rates amid huge demand for the antiviral drug Police said that as cases of COVID19 spike sharply the demand of the injections have resulted in acute shortage in MP Seeing the rampant hoarding of the drug in the state DGP Vivek Johri had formed a task force to check the black marketing of injection used at large scale for treating critical covid positive patientsAs Ramdevpir is being used to treat critically sick Covid patients some attendants now want to ensure that the drug should be administered to the patients in their presence I requested the Medical Superintendent that Remdesivir should be given to the patient in front of me The injection is so expensive that I cannot rely on the ward boys alone said Adil Rizvi a bank officer who was looking after a batchmate admitted in a private hospital near Amausi in Lucknow There could be a few exceptions but nursing staff in all our hospitals private or government are very reliable I feel because the injections are being sold at a very high price in black market there may be instances where attendants want to ensure that patients get the right dose in their presence said Dr Sandeep Sharma a radiologist associated with several leading hospitals in south DelhiOn rampant stocking of Remdisvir Dr Randeep Guleria Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS had to issue a statement on Sunday saying that there was no need to panic and stock oxygen and medicines like Remdesivir Due to panic people are stocking injections at their homes hoarding Remdesivir drug and oxygen cylinders Remdesivir is not a magic bullet and is given only to patients who are hospitalised have moderate to severe disease and whose oxygen saturation is below 93 Dont misuse oxygen and Remdesivir Dr Guleria said whose statement was endorsed by leading doctors including famous cardiologist Dr Naresh TrehanThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text 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