Illicit sale of vital Covid drugs hurts desperate buyers

NEW DELHI: On Saturday, 47-year-old Ganesh Upadhyay, a Janakpuri resident, drove around the city while simultaneously making enquiry calls, to get hold of six doses of remdesivir for his 42-year old wife who was admitted to a private hospital with Covid-19. While the antiviral drug was unavailable at most pharmacies, a neighbour connected him with a dealer in north Delhi, who offered to supply him with the medicine for ₹25,000 a vial. Chemist bodies in the city said the drug retails for between ₹1,000 and ₹2,700.

“I tried contacting authorised remdesivir dealers using the list released by the Delhi government, but many numbers were unavailable, while others did not have any stock,” Upadhyay said.

Even common pills like paracetamol were hard to come by, he said.

With increasing instances of hoarding and black marketing of drugs being reported in the Capital at least five chemist associations in Delhi-ncr on Saturday issued notices to members asking them to stay vigilant against such practices.

These notices reiterated that medication used to treat Covid-19 patients such as remdesivir, favipiravir, ivermectin, and others, are to be sold only after a buyer produces a prescription and the patient’s Aadhaar card, to avoid their black-marketing.

“This is a very crucial time and there is a shortage of supply of medicines. In fact, many of our members have said they are also running out of regular flu medicines because people are panic-buying. However, in case of any Covid-19 specific medication, we have issued directions that the drugs are to be sold at the maximum retail prescription and only with valid prescription and ID cards,” said Kuldeep Singh Channa, secretary of the Southwest Delhi Chemist Association.

Chana said that for instance, a 17-tablet strip of 400mg Fabiflu, which is the most prescribed brand of favipiravir, is to be sold at an MRP of ₹1,224. However, in the black market, this is now being sold for as much as ₹4,000 a strip.

Residents across the city said there is a shortage of non-covid medicines and equipment too.

“My mother is a chronic diabetic, and I have been buying insulin syringes from a local shop for years. But supplies of these syringes have dried up for the past week. Since the owner of the shop knows us, he delivers it to our house as soon as he manages some, but the situation is really bad,” said Himanshu Agarwal, a resident of south Delhi’s Munirka.

Suresh Yadav, the owner of a pharmacy in Dwarka Sector 6, said supplies have been hit because a large share of the stock of medicines is being diverted to hospitals and pharmacies near Covid care centres.

“In the last three hours at least 50 people have come in asking for paracetamol tablets. I am already out of it. People are taking these medicines without a prescription, as a prevention against Covid-19, which is another reason they’re out of stock,” Yadav said.