Kriti Agrawal
On Monday the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench said that the distribution of Remdesivir injections must be based on need, and it asked Centre and the state government what criteria are used for allocating the drug to different states and districts.
A division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and SM Modak stated that if Maharashtra contributed 40% of COVID-19 cases in India, then the allocation of Remdesivir injections to the state should also be 40%.
Remdesivir is approved for use in patients with severe COVID-19. Owing to an unexpected increase in demand for the drug as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centre last week prohibited its export until the situation improves.
According to an advocate representing one of the petitioners, the allocation of Remdesivir to Nagpur was very low.
The court further stated that, “There seems to be some inconsistency and arbitrariness in the allocation of Remdesivir vials to Nagpur district, the vials are not being distributed in proportion to the demand.”
Justice Shukre said that “If Maharashtra contributes 40% of COVID-19 incidents, then it is only fair to assume that 40% of Remdesivir injections are allocated to this state. The
The bench also stated that it did not understand the rationale of allocating over 5,000 vials of Remdesivir for approximately 2,000 beds in Thane but only about 3,000 vials for over 8,000 COVID-19 beds in Nagpur.
The court noted that on April 13 and 18, not a single vial of Remdesivir was distributed to Nagpur, and on April 17, only 500 vials were distributed.
The bench stated, “This has had a major impact on the administration of health care to COVID-19 patients in Nagpur, the risk of death due to Remdesivir deficiency cannot be ruled out. It is the State’s solemn obligation to save and protect every precious life.”
The court observed that “the COVID-19 situation in Nagpur has turned to its worst. So much so that there are no beds, no life-saving measures, no oxygen, and a severe shortage of medical and para-medical personnel. The increase in COVID-19 cases in Nagpur is dramatic, despite the fact that the situation was not so severe even during the first phase of the pandemic last year.”