Sandeep Mishra
Post News Network
BHUBANESWAR: A medicine or a drug can save one’s life while a spurious drug can easily take one’s life. Medicine shops inside the Capital Hospital are functioning without licence and even doctors are concerned about the quality of medicines being provided at these shops. Patients are at the receiving end of this administrative apathy.
The three-medical shops on Capital Hospital premises are, in fact, defying several norms and rules and they are also not providing medicines to patients at a discount of 15 per cent as was stipulated by the health department. They are not shifting their shops to the utility complex inside the hospital campus, a reason why the drug controller is not issuing them the licences to two of them, while the third has a licence. As long as licences are not issued, drug inspectors would not come to the shops for routine checks. This will give them the freedom to sell even expired and untested medicines.
There are serious suspicions that the hospital authorities, the drug controller and the shop owners are hand-in-glove with each other, and engaged in a blame game by way of a cover-up.
Ashirwad Medical Shop, functioning inside the hospital premises for a long time, had put up a board which said ‘medicines are available here at a discounted price’. But, there is no clarity as to how this discount system operates. A patient felt that the prices are fixed on the owner’s whims.
The shop owner, Manoranjan Mohanty, admitted to Orissa POST that the hospital administration had asked the shop to shift to the utility complex. “However, the utility center is in such a condition that if we shift, our medicines will be damaged. There is no hygiene due to the presence of encroachers who run hotels and other businesses there, and they do so even near the toilets,” he said.
The same reason was cited by the owner of m/s Shanti who said he has written repeatedly to the hospital administration to ensure a proper atmosphere at the utility complex and take action against the encroachers. “But there was no response. If the authorities provide us a useable space, I am ready to relocate my shop anytime,” said Kamal Kumar Agarwal.
The third and the final shop owner, who runs Seva medicine shop, did not want to speak to the media. He is the president of the association and has filed a case on behalf of other two medicine shops against the relocation and discount being given on medicines to the patients. The case had resulted in a stay-order from the court as a result of which they are neither shifting their shops nor providing discount to the patients.
Owners of the two shops other than Shanti say they have applied for the licence but were not given it, the state drug controller citing the reason that they must first shift to the utility complex. Drug controller Hrushikesh Mahapatra responded, “The drug inspector will inform us. Then only we can take any action.”
It is illegal to run medical stores without a licence, but this is happening right inside the capital’s premier government-run hospital. While the drug controller has the power to act against unlicensed shops, no one knows why he is giving the shops a long rope.
Said Capital Hospital superintendent Binod Mishra, “We have written to the district collector to intervene. The situation is pretty bad. We have no authority to ask them to get out. It is the drug controller who has the power to do that,” said Mishra.
It is simply that the blame-game is on while the drug mafia is calling the shots. The medical shop owners are blaming the hospital administration and drug controller, while the hospital authorities are blaming the drug controller. Patients are caught in between.