Greeva Garg –
The Calcutta High Court took up an issue on medical wastage after a news report of Rs 1 crore worth apprehended wastage of medicines carried out by the daily Hindi newspaper ‘Sanmarg’.
For the detailed information regarding the issue, the Court has asked the State to gather information for total expenditure made on medicines, that are issued to the hospitals and the medical colleges in the last five years. Also, the amount for a number of medicines wasted due to their expiry.
The division bench comprising of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee observed that, “One needs to keep in mind that taxpayers’ money of which the State is a trustee cannot be allowed to be wasted like this. The government has to plan to save the money also wherever possible.”
The news report published was about 1 crore worth of medicines being wasted in the Beliaghata ID hospital due to lack of patients, whereas Government hospitals in the State are struggling for it due to a large number of patients.
The Court sought State’s response and questioned that, “Whether all the hospitals in the State are computerized and connected to a network or not.”
The Court ordered the State to ensure that there should be monitoring for purchase of medicine and proper supply to various hospitals to avoid unnecessary wastage of medical resources.
The news report was brought before the notice of Justice Shivakant Prasad, who pursued the suo moto cognizance for this issue.
“The problem is rooted in the lack of timely intervention or proper management and distribution of medicines and injections by the State’s Health Department,” Justice Prasad said.
The matter will be heard next on July 8.