Much like other cities of India including Bangalore and Delhi, a report claims that Mumbai is also facing an acute shortage of life-saving drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab. Mumbai’s hospitals get the medication directly from the manufacturer, though some of it is imported. Additionally, two individual distributors in the city, S K Distributors and Byculla Pharmacy and Stores, also receive the supply of the medications from the manufacturer.
Ground reports suggest that stocks of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab at Byculla Pharmacy and Stores were exhausted on July 5 while S K Distributors also didn’t have any stock left, pointing at a dire situation for critically ill COVID-19 patients. However, the drug manufacturer Cipla has reportedly said that stocks will be replenished by the end of this week.
Also read - Mumbai Starts Using New Medicine As Coronavirus Cases Rise In The City
President of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Parthiv Sanghvi spoke about the ground realities on the matter, while other experts have said that this is a case of supply not meeting demand.
Speaking to Mirror Now, Dr Sanghvi said - “These drugs now form a part of treatment protocol after being sanctioned by ICMR. But the problem now is that these drugs are not available in adequate amount. Unfortunately, the patients have increased and for this increased number we need proper supplies. The shortage of these drugs will hinder the treatment and that's why the government should intervene in the matter now."
Remdesivir is manufactured and sold by Cipla while Tocilizumab is produced by Roche and imported into India by Cipla. Though the company has only given a tentative resupply timeline of 1-2 days, it is expected that the medications will reach the distributors and hospitals by July 10.
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