Missing drugs: Committee seeks medical expenses of three hospitals

Hospitals deny that any medicines were pilfered from their stores.

LAHORE: An inquiry committee probing pilferage of medicines from Services Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and Lahore General Hospital has asked for their medicine expense details.

The committee was constituted on March 13 after a raid by the Health Department at a warehouse in Shadman uncovered medicines worth hundreds of thousands of rupees pilfered from these hospitals. At the time, the committee had been told to submit a report on the matter in 72 hours and Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique had said that this would be made a test case.

The committee had met thrice after that and asked the hospital to explain their positions so that they could fix the responsibility of the pilferage. However, the hospital administration’s replies were deemed unsatisfactory.

The committee, comprising Additional Secretary Health (Tech) Dr Suleman Shahid, Health Director (HQ) Dr Ahmad Afifi, Health EDO Dr Zulfiqar Ali and Chief Drug Controller Dr Zakaur Rehman, sent the hospitals details of 20 medicine brands from their stores that were found at the warehouse. The hospitals’ additional medical superintendents and chief pharmacists had been asked to explain their position on the theft.

Drug Controller Zakaur Rehman said that the hospitals had claimed that medicines uncovered in the raid had not come from their stores.

He said that the committee had seemed this reply unsatisfactory. “It is unfortunate that most hospitals tend to deny allegations of medicine pilferage.”

“This is why the committee has decided to ask the hospitals for their medical expense details, he said. “We will cross match details of the stolen medicines with the hospital records on medicines used within the hospital and fix responsibility accordingly.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2015.