850 Remdesivir injections stolen from govt hospital in Bhopal

850 Remdesivir ampules were stolen from a store of the Gandhi Medical College, in Bhopal on Saturday.

With reports of shortage of Remdesivir drug coming from all across the country and its prices going through the roof in the black market, a total of 800 Remdesivir ampules were stolen from a store of the Gandhi Medical College, a government-run facility in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal on Saturday.Bhopal has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last three weeks. The city has also been facing an acute shortage of Remdesivir injections required in the treatment of Covid-19, besides hospital beds and oxygen.The state government has taken over the distribution of Remdesivir injections and now allots them to various hospitals as per bed capacity for treatment of Covid-19 patients.After Remdesivir injections went off the shelves of medical stores last week, they are being sold in the black market for as much as Rs 20,000 per injection. A Covid patient with infected lungs requires a complete dose of six injections over five days.After the news of Remdesivir injections being stolen came out, medical education minister Vishwas Sarang reached the Hamidia Hospital - the medical facility linked to the Gandhi Medical College.“It is a very serious issue given the Covid situation in the state and we are putting in place a system to ensure that such an incident is not repeated,” said Sarang.DIG Irshad Wali also reached the hospital and said that the culprits will soon be caught.