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| Patients at the emergency ward of MGM on Wednesday. (Animesh Sengupta) |
• Snakebite victim Subhas Pandit had to wait four hours before he was administered an anti-venom injection
• Ramesh Kumar of Bhuiyandih was hospitalised with symptoms of typhoid but treatment came at extra cost
The state-run MGM Medical College and Hospital in Sakchi, Jamshedpur, is grappling with an acute — and arguably man-made — crunch of life-saving drugs and other medicines, prompting poor patients, who are entitled to free treatment, to buy them from private chemists.
The crisis, which began last week, has become intense over the past couple of days, with the storekeeper claiming only drips and some common medicines in stock.
A government healthcare institution, MGM has at its disposal Rs 25 lakh for procuring medicines through tenders. However, sources revealed that the tender process was being delayed firstly because hospital superintendent S.S. Prasad opened the bids last month, keeping 10 out of the 13 department heads out of the loop and, secondly, because the authorities were preoccupied with the medical college’s golden jubilee celebrations that concluded recently.
As a result, some 400 patients admitted to various wards of the hospital and the 250-odd people who visit the OPD every day are left at the mercy of high market prices of miracle medicines that save lives.
“I was admitted here three days ago with symptoms of typhoid. Doctors came to see me and directed my family members to purchase the prescribed medicines from outside. We have been doing so for two days now. But we are poor and I don’t know how long my family can sustain my treatment,” said 36-year-old Ramesh.
Seventeen-year-old Subhas Pandit of Burmamines was brought to MGM two days ago after he was bitten by some poisonous snake. Father Bishnukant Pandit said the boy was left unattended in the emergency ward for four hours. “His treatment started only after I bought an anti-venom injection for Rs 300 from a local store,” Bishnukant said.
Superintendent Prasad conceded that they were facing a shortage of drugs. “We are out of life-saving drugs like cortisone and deriphyllin, the last being prescribed for serious asthma patients. The tender process has been delayed for some unavoidable reasons, but the matter will be sorted out soon,” he said.
What Prasad didn’t elaborate is that after the heads of MGM departments termed his tender show “unfair”, a lengthy process of scrutiny of the bidders is currently underway. Altogether, 13 private parties had submitted applications last month and it may be sometime before one is cleared to replenish medicine stocks.
As a stopgap arrangement, MGM has decided to buy essential medicines from the market through quotations.
Health secretary K. Vidyasagar could not be contacted. Deputy secretary, health, S.S. Paswan, who looks after the affairs of MGM, said he was not aware of any crisis. “But I will look into the matter,” he said.
Prasad admitted that he had not informed the health department. “I did not want to trouble him (health secretary) because the delay in the tender process is at my level. The matter will be resolved within two weeks,” he claimed.
