Bombay High Court pulls up Maharashtra govt on Remdesivir procurement, allocation

The Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government on Wednesday for its extremely callous behaviour towards the issue of procuring and allocating Remdesivir injections for COVID19 patients and said the authorities are shirking their responsibilitiesThe Nagpur bench of the HC also expressed its displeasure over reduction of supply of liquid oxygen from the Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh to Maharashtra which has seen a huge jump in demand for the lifesaving gas used to treat critical COVID19 patientsA division bench of Justices S B Shukre and S M Modak was irked that its April 19 order directing the state government to supply 10000 Remdesivir vials to Nagpur badly affected by COVID19 on that very day was not complied with completelyIn strong remarks the court noted that it was ashamed to be a part of this nasty and evil society and was unable to do anything for the coronavirus patients of Maharashtra The bench was hearing a bunch of petitions on the issue of the pandemic lack of medical facilities in hospitals and the hurdles being faced by affected peopleThe court was later informed that between April 19 and April 21 as many as 5245 vials of Remdesivir has been distributed in Nagpur badly affected by the pandemic and around 6000 more vials of the key COVID19 drug will be distributed by ThursdayThe bench took note of the issue of lack of oxygen supply in Maharashtra and expressed its displeasure with the drop in shipment of liquid oxygen from the Bhilai Steel Plant Things have turned in reverse mannerinstead of increasing the supply of liquid oxygen the supply has been decreased from the normal practice of 110 metric tonnes per day to around 60 metric tonnes the court saidThe bench directed Praxair India Pvt Ltd Bhilai Steel Plant to immediately start supplying the normal 110 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to Maharashtra The bench noted that the affidavits filed by the Joint Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Nagpur and the Additional Collector have made contradictory statements on why the order on Remdesivir supply could not be complied withWe find that these officers have now started to shirk their responsibilities in giving certain relief to COVID19 patients and in a way they are also on the path to violate their fundamental duties the court observed It added that at this stage it was refraining from passing any adverse order and giving the authorities concerned an opportunity to correct themselvesThe Joint Commissioner FDA in his affidavit said the Maharashtra government has no authority to control distribute and allocate Remdesivir and that the process is handled by Mumbaibased Haffkine Bio Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd He told the court that pharma companies send vials to their depots in Maharashtra from where they are dispatched to hospitalsThe affidavit said at present there is a shortage of Remdesivir in Maharashtra the worst COVID19hit state The bench then pointed out that on the last hearing it was told that a statelevel committee has been appointed to allocate Remdesivir injections to hospitals across districts in MaharashtraWhose responsibility is allocation This is highly objectionable This shows extreme callousness and now the government is trying to shirk its responsibility Is it not the state governments job to find a solution at its level Justice Shukre saidThe bench further noted that the authorities are not providing any solace or relief to coronavirus patients and are refusing to even comply with court orders Are you not ashamed of yourselves We are ashamed to be a part of this nasty and evil society where we are not able to do anything for the unfortunate patients of Maharashtra Justice Shukre saidWhat nonsense is going on hereyou government wont do anything on your own and when we are trying to provide a solution you do not follow that too You cannot walk away from your responsibilities the court said The court was informed by the Central Drug Controller that seven companies were manufacturing 88 lakh Remdesivir vilas each month which was sufficient to cater to the needs of serious Covid19 patients across the countryThe bench in its order directed the Central Drug Controller to inform it on Friday steps taken by it under the Drug Control Act and other relevant Acts to ensure fair and equal distribution of the drug not only to Maharashtra or its Vidarbha region but to the entire nationThis 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 Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever