Remdesivir and Tocilizumab are two life-saving drugs used to treat Covid-19 patients in India. They are in short supply across the hospitals and pharmacies but are easily available in inflated prices in the thriving black market of Delhi.
Abhishek’s father was admitted to a hospital in Delhi. He had high fever and difficulty in breathing and was tested positive for Covid-19. The doctors told his family to get hold of Remdesivir – an antiviral drug that’s been approved in India for a clinical trial.
Life Saver but for whom
However, procuring the drugs was an impossible task for Abhishek. With his father’s health deteriorating by hours, he desperately sought the drug but it was not to be found anywhere owing to the scarcity due to Covid-19. After making several desperate calls, Abhishek was able to procure the drugs from the black market by shelling out seven times the actual price. Remdesivir’s actual price is Rs 4100 but it is currently available in the black market for the price range of Rs 35000 – Rs 60000.
The price range puts the drug out of a typical Indian family reaches. Many families had to shell out their life-saving in order to save their near and dear ones.
The demand for Remdesivir is driven by the fact that it has managed to cut the duration of COVID-19 symptoms from 15 days down to 11 in clinical trials at hospitals around the world. In absence of any proven drugs, doctors are increasingly prescribing it in India, driving the demand across the whole country. The situation is similar in Bangalore where it is sold for nearly 10 times the market price. The Bangalore government has contemplated over buying it in bulk and making it available across government and private hospitals.
According to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), pharmaceutical companies can sell Remdesivir only to hospitals. However, as per sources, the hospital pharmacies are buying the drug for around Rs 4500 and then selling it in the black market for an average rate of Rs 45,000.
On July 14, the DCGI had directed its officers to keep an eye on the sale and distribution channel of Remdesivir to prevent its black marketing. One patient is allowed 11 vials of the drug. However, this has not improved the situation on the ground. Patients in need of the drugs still have to rely on the black market to procure the drugs as there is an acute shortage in the hospitals.
Meanwhile, Cipla launched Cipremi which is a generic version of Remdesivir. The company aims to supply 80,000 vials in its first month. Tocilizumab is another drug that is quite effective for COVID-19. However, like Remdesivir, there has been a huge gap between the supply and demand of the drug leading to it being sold in the black market. Recently a woman was caught red-handed in Gujrat as she tried to sell the drug for Rs 57,000 for a 400 ml vial of injection.
The sky-touching prices of these life-saving drugs have been a bane for a lot of middle-class families who may not even have insurance plans to tide through the time of crisis.
In India, nearly 8 lakh cases of coronavirus have been reported and 3,60,894 are active cases. Out of these cases mostly are asymptomatic and mild, and the remaining 20% are moderate and require oxygen support.
The government much ensure that there is no scope of corruption during the supply and distribution of the drugs. Stringent monitoring and expedited actions will help prevent the creation of such a black market. The government must ensure that life-saving drugs are accessible to all the sections of the society irrespective of their financial status.
