Giridih, July 28: The state health ministry has indicted at least 15 officials of Sadar hospital here for stocking expired medicine in 2007.

Among them were seven civil surgeons, three doctors who headed different wings and five storekeepers, all of whom worked in the hospital from 1998 to 2007.

The Telegraph had reported that medicine past its expiry date worth Rs 5 lakh lying at the auxiliary nurse midwives’ hostel last year in February.

The medicines included paracetamol, chloroquine, metronidazole, dicyclomine tablet and ORS.

Reacting on the news, the local administration had set up an inquiry led by then additional commissioner Gauri Shankar Prasad.

In March, 2007, health minister Bhanu Pratap Sahi had constituted a two-member inquiry team comprising Anuj Kumar Singh, director (administration and training, health services) and Y.K. Sinha, regional deputy director health services.

The officials had found that there were no records of the medicine sent by the Union health ministry to the Sadar hospital. The storekeepers neither kept records of the medicines worth lakhs nor distributed them. Neither their superiors nor the civil surgeon took note of the irregularity.

Based on the reports, the state government’s joint secretary, B.K. Munda, asked for a clarification within 10 days from the 15 accused.

But most of them did not submit their clarifications by the deadline.