Bitter pill to swallow: PHC issues stay against govt ad asking pharmas to sell directly to hospitals

Petitioner says at least 17 legitimate distributers are licenced to provide medicines.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court issued a stay order on Monday against a government advertisement asking pharmaceuticals to directly supply medicines to state-run hospitals.

There are suppliers with licences from the government to do the same, said the court and sought reports from the health department in this case.

Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain was informed by Advocate Aminur Rehman, the counsel for M/S Shad Traders, that the petitioner, along with 16 other distributors, had licences from the government to supply medicines.

It was pointed out the government recently advertised in newspapers that it needed pharmaceutical companies to directly deliver medicines to state-run hospitals in the province.

“We have the government licences to supply medicine, but the authorities bypassed us and now want direct contact with the manufacturers,” said the petitioner.

The petition stated the medicine coordination cell in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health department no longer exists and now the responsibility of procuring medicines for state-run hospitals lies with the districts. It added the advertisement for quotations ignored the distributers and asked the manufacturing companies to provide estimated costs, which the petitioner believes is against the law.

“The advertisement of the provincial government should be suspended as it is against the law,” the petitioner asserted.

The court issued a stay order against the advertisement till further orders and told the K-P director general health and secretary to file their comments before the next date of hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2014.