SHRC Questions JKMSCL Over Supply Of Substandard Drugs

Srinagar, 5 May 2018: Taking note of the reports about sub-standard drugs supplied to the government hospitals, State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has said that the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation (JKMSCL) has failed to convince the commission that “how drugs that are found sub-standard are withdrawn from hospital stores and made sure people don’t consume them.”

A petition in this connection was filed by Chairperson Centre for peace and protection of Human Rights, MM Shuja. In response, the drug controller submitted a report before the commission couple of months ago in which he had stated that 12 samples of drugs supplied by the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation – which supplies drugs to the entire hospital in Jammu and Kashmir – were found to be of sub-standard quality.

“Jammu and Kashmir State is a consumer state and therefore majority of medicines consumed by our populations reach to our states by other country,” the drug controller stated in his report. “In other terms, our state has to mainly rely on manufacturer’s in house testing and also the regulatory mechanism available with respective states from where drugs are entering our state. The sampling undertaken by state drug control is only a supplementary exercise based on lifting samples on random/complaint basis”

“The state government has initiated several steps to enhance the testing capacity of the state,” the report adds.

The drugs supplied by the Theon Pharmaceuticals drug company were found to be of sub-standard quality by the drug controller. The company has been blacklisted and the cases are going on in the high court. The company in question has asked the commission not to issue any further orders till the cases get cleared in court.

However, no official from the JKMSCL’s office has been attending the court proceedings regarding the supply of sub-standard drugs. The commission while taking note of it said, “The medical corporation has failed to convince the complainant and commission the mechanism as how the drugs which are found sub-standard and of spurious are supplied to hospitals and other primary health centers. How are these drugs then withdrawn from stores so that general public doesn’t use them?”

A final opportunity has been granted to head of the corporation to file their response by June 4 this year failing which the commission would hand over the case to its own investigation wing.Greater Kashmir