Andhra Pradesh: Remdesivir Injections being sold illegally in Guntur seized by officials

Authorities in the state have stepped up surveillance over the black marketing of remdesivir injections given to covid victims. Drug inspectors have arrested four people for selling these injections illegally. Some people sell this injection for Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. Drug control officials were alerted and intensified the surveillance at wholesale shops across the state, as well as private hospitals. A man was caught carrying 6 injections in Guntur on Wednesday. The man who seized and captured them is being prosecuted.

On the same day, three male nursing staff were caught selling out injections to patients in the ICU of a hospital in Narasaraopet, Guntur district. 7 doses of injections were seized and cases were registered against the accused and produced in court. Drug inspectors and assistant directors across the state have stepped up surveillance in the wake of the two incidents.

He warned that Remdesivir injections should be distributed only to hospitals approved by covid and that strict action would be taken if anyone sold them privately. Wholesalers and retailers were also ordered to account for the injections. The involvement of doctors in the sale of injections in the black market in Guntur was widely discussed in the city's medical community on Thursday.

Ravi Shankar Narayan, Director General, Department of Drug Control said no matter how big the perpetrators who sold the injections in the black market, they will not be spared. "These should only be sold at covid‌ approved hospitals; we will take strict action against such people," he said