How This Pandemic Unveiled the Dirty face of Black Marketing in India?



In Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh where police arrested three hospital staffers and five people connected to a medical college on Sunday for allegedly stealing and black-marketing Remdesivir, a key medicine in COVID-19 treatment, in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

They would cart away injections meant for patients at a private hospital and then sell it at exorbitant rates amid huge demand for the anti-viral drug as COVID-19 cases spike sharply, an official said.

"Three of those arrested are workers at Deshmukh Hospital and Research Centre here, and they obtained Remdesivir injections by not providing it to patients who were prescribed the drug.

The rest have passed out from or are under-graduates of RD Gardi Medical College," Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Amarendra Singh said."They would convince the patients that they had been administered Remdesivir. The vials would then be sold at high prices elsewhere. We have seized three vials and two anti- biotic injections from them," the Additional SP added

How Court Is Reacting?

Meanwhile in Delhi, High Court has taken up big concerns and formed a investigation team to chase down all those people regarding the black market of Oxygen Cylinders, Vaccines and other essential things needed for Covid Cure.

India set another global record in new virus cases Thursday with more than 410,000 new infections, putting even more pressure on the country's overwhelmed hospitals. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people has now recorded over 18 million cases, behind only the U.S., and over 200,000 deaths — though the true number is believed to be higher.

Death is so omnipresent that burial grounds are running out of space in many cities and glowing funeral pyres blaze through the night. The few medicines known to help treat Covid-19, such as remdesivir and steroids in hospitalized patients, are scarce. 

Oxygen Crisis

The most basic treatment —oxygen therapy — is also in short supply, leading to unnecessary deaths. Even hospital beds are scarce. There were just 14 free intensive care beds available in New Delhi, a city of 29 million people, on Thursday morning.

India’s latest treatment guidelines mirror those of the World Health Organization and the United States with a key exception: India allows mildly ill patients to be given hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, drugs used for certain tropical diseases.

There is little evidence they work against Covid-19, and the WHO strongly recommends against hydroxychloroquine’s use for Covid-19 of any severity and against using ivermectin except in studies.While India is a leading producer of medicine globally, its regulation of drugs was poor even before the pandemic. And mounting despair is driving people to try anything.

What Went Wrong?

In September, federal data showed that Indian drug makers had made over 2.4 million vials of the drug. But when cases dipped in September, companies destroyed much of their expired stock and production declined.

India was then slow to respond to the uptick of infections in February, and production was only scaled up in March. Earlier this week, Merck announced a deal with five makers of generic drugs in India to produce molnupiravir, an experimental antiviral similar to remdesivir, which is given by IV, but in a more convenient pill form. It’s unclear when that might become available.

As Covid-19 cases in India surged, so did the demand for Remdesivir and with it came indiscriminate usage, hoarding, and black marketers, causing artificial shortage to jack up prices. In a press conference this week, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said that the drug was being used indiscriminately without following appropriate official protocols. 

Black Marketing Of Vital Drugs

"The state is getting 50,000 doses every day and all of them are being consumed, leading to the shortage," said Tope, adding, "Pharmacists and stockists might be doing black marketing and that needs to be checked."The anti-viral dose was being used to treat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients before it was directed for Covid-19 treatment last year. 

Currently, doctors and hospitals are prescribing the injection even for those suffering from the mild problem of breathlessness, Tope said, adding that it’s a violation of the protocol. The minister directed all district officials to ensure that every injection is used judiciously and cap the prices to check illegal hoarding.

Black market prices for Remdesivir, which is produced by several Indian companies, have increased up to 20-fold to about $1,000 for a single vial, said Siddhant Sarang, a volunteer with Yuva Halla Bol, a youth activist group which is helping patients find medicines and hospital beds.

The owner of a medical store in Maharashtra's Parbhani district was arrested last Thursday for selling a single vial of Remdesivir for Rs.6000, a much higher price than the MRP of Rs.4800. 

To overcome a panic over the shortage of Remdesivir and to prohibit the black marketing and stocking of the drug, hospitals in Pune have been asked to provide the injection to the patients as opposed to their family members or relatives buying the drug.

The issue is not just limited to Maharashtra. As per a Reuters report, India's drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), and several state governments in the recent days raised concerns over the hoarding and black marketing of Remdesivir, which in some instances is being sold at over 10 times the maximum retail price. 

Social media posts on Sunday showed large queues of people in the western state of Gujarat waiting to buy Remdesivir injections for Covid-19 patients. Madhya Pradesh, too, had people queueing up outside medical stores for the drug, with some of them, agitated at not getting it, blocking a road in Indore for a brief period on April 9.

Efforts Taken By Authorities

Authorities have started cracking down on the dealers. In New Delhi, for instance, raids are being carried out on shops or people suspected of hoarding oxygen cylinders and medicines. Despite all the desperate efforts, medicines that work remain unavailable to many.

Virus-blocking antibody drugs, widely used elsewhere, aren't yet authorized in India. Roche, which works with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on marketing one such treatment, said it is negotiating with India to speed up emergency use. American drug maker Eli Lilly, which makes a similar treatment, said it is in discussions with the Indian government.


Written By - Gourav Chowdhury

Edited By - Nidhi Verma