Tranquilliser banned in Rly hospital

The Danapur Divisional Railway Hospital has put a ban on use of alprazolam (0.5 mg), a tranquilliser, following adverse analytical reports about the quality and effectiveness of the drug. The railway hospital was in the news in October last year when it received about 20,000 tablets of alprazolam for use before their expiry on October 31, 2006. Smelling a rat, the vigilance department of the East Central Railway (ECR) seized the tablets and sent them to a reputed laboratory for analytical test. The test report clearly stated that the quality of the drug was poor, sources said. The railway vigilance then sought explanations from three senior doctors of the Danapur division regarding the sudden and bulk purchase of the drug and its instant supply to other health centres of the railways. The vigilance also recorded the statement of the three doctors at the ECR headquarters at Hajipur last month, the sources said. The vigilance sleuths are also investigating the role of railway doctors in purchasing or making an indent for such a huge bulk of medicine supply. Since the zonal headquarters at Hajipur oversees the purchase of medicines, complicity of some railway doctors, both at the divisional and zonal level, cannot be ruled out, the sources said. That apart, a Mumbai-based company supplied insulin, an important drug for keeping diabetes under control, to the railway hospital recently. Subsequent examination of the drug detected some impurities in it. Luckily, the hospital had not prescribed the drug to any patient. The railways then stopped using the insulin vials and asked the company concerned to replace them immediately. The company is yet to respond, the sources said. Besides, the railway hospital did not make much use of another drug, metrogyl syrup, which was supplied to the hospital in bulk. The expiry date of the drug was March 31, the sources said. The ECR has been incurring a huge loss of revenue either due to unused medicines lying at different health centres or their excessive purchase. During a recent raid at the Dhanbad railway hospital, the CBI unearthed a medicine scam involving purchase of near-expired medicines during 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The CBI pointed out in its report that the medicines were purchased without the concurrence of the purchase committee members, the sources said. Chief medical superintendent of the Danapur railway hospital Dr A Prasad confirmed that alprazolam had been banned in the hospital. "The preliminary test report has revealed that there were some impurities in the seized drug," he said. The insulin vials will also be replaced soon, he added. Chief medical director of the ECR Dr R P Singh said that the matter is still under investigation. The railways will initiate proper steps only after the the receipt of the final report from the vigilance, he added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Cities/Patna/Tranquilliser_banned_in_Rly_hospital/articleshow/1842247.cms