Last Updated on September 29, 2020 by The Health Master
RAJKOT: A day after five people were arrested for black marketing of remdesivir injections in the city, the detection of crime branch (DCB) and state Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) busted a similar racket involving a local pharmaceutical company and a medical representative who were procuring this crucial drug in large quantities on forged bills of hospitals.
Police detained Sachin Patel (24), owner the Theos Pharmaceutical Pvt Company Ltd, and Rajanikant Faldu (29), medical representative (MR) of another pharma company, who had connived to produce forged bills of various hospitals to various pharmaceutical companies and purchased large quantities of the injections to sell them in the black market. Some of the hospitals were not even designated for Covid-19 treatment.
The investigation revealed that duo had purchased as many as 2,332 remdesivir injections total worth Rs 4.54 lakh since August.
15. The scam was exposed after the FDCA got information that Vedant Hospital, designated for Covid-19 treatment, had purchased 110 remdesivir packages (one package contains five vials) from Theos Pharma, which has a wholesale license.
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“When FDCA inquired with the hospital, its owner Dr Anwar Kothia said they had neither placed any such order nor received any stock of injections. After this revelation, FDCA team along with Dr Kothia approached us and the latter lodged the complaint,” said Manoj Agarwal, Rajkot police commissioner.
Patel and Faldu were arrested and investigation revealed that the pharma company had purchased 96 remdesivir injections by producing the bill of Shubham Hospital, which is not designated for Covid-19 treatment. “Shubham Hospital had never placed such order or got supply of the injections. Patel and Faldu had sold a total of 96 injections in the black market,” said Agarwal.
Dr HG Koshia, Commissioner, FDCA – Gujarat, said, “Since cases in Rajkot were rising, we were pushing additional stock of remdesivir there. Still, we learnt there was a shortage of the drug. Last week, we asked our teams to check with the stockists – New Ideal Agency and Theos Pharmaceuticals – regarding the sudden shortage.”
“We have got information about another stockist New Ideal Agency from FDCA that is involved in the racket and investigation is on,” Agarwal said. Meanwhile, as a token of appreciation, Agrawal awarded a cash prize of Rs 15,000 to crime branch sub-inspector Vanrajsinh Jadeja and his subordinates for successful investigation into the case.
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