Expired, unused medicines worth lakhs found on district hospital rooftop
Indore: Several cartons and bags full of expired and unused medicines, estimated to be worth lakhs of rupees, were found lying on the terrace of Indore district hospital by a team of the district administration during a surprise inspection on Friday.
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The expired drugs included expensive medicines for the treatment of Covid-19, injections, antibiotics, cough syrups, and anti-allergic pills, among others. They were found lying in the open in an unsanitary condition on the rooftop of the district hospital's medicine store.
A team led by additional district magistrate Rajendra Raghuvanshi conducted a surprise inspection at the district hospital following complaints about expired and unused medicines lying in poor condition on the rooftop.
Indore collector Asheesh Singh said, "An inspection was carried out on Friday in the district hospital where stockpiles of medicines were found, and the ADM will submit a report on May 24."
Officials part of the inspecting team said some drugs passed their shelf life in 2024, but many batches were still usable with expiry dates extending to 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028. They said many of these medicines were manufactured in 2022 and 2023, suggesting they were never dispatched and may have been neglected or mishandled.
Chief medical and health officer Dr BS Setia said, "The medicines on the rooftop are expired and not used for treatment. The quantity is huge, so it is lying on the rooftop as we do not have storage capacity for such large stocks. These drugs were procured during the second and third waves of Covid."
Setia said a committee was set up in Dec to prepare a report on discarding these medicines after thorough valuation and examination, but they still have not submitted the report, in the absence of which the medicines could not be discarded.
"Corrective steps will be taken upon receiving the report by the committee, which is expected in 4-8 days," said Setia.
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