The Health Department of West Bengal is planning to introduce a new standard operating procedure (SOP) that will require a weekly assessment of medicine supplies in state-run hospitals and medical college hospitals. State Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay has approved this SOP, aiming to eradicate the use of expired medicines in these medical facilities. An official from the state health department revealed that the new SOP will involve a comprehensive inspection of medicine stocks, focusing on manufacturing and expiry dates. Medicines found to be expired, even by just 24 hours, will be promptly discarded to prevent any chance of reuse.
If any significant irregularities are uncovered during the weekly review or if hospital authorities are found repeatedly storing expired medicines, they will face show-cause notices from the state health department. The decision to implement this SOP stems from past complaints, including instances of patients, including new mothers and newborns, receiving expired saline and Ringer’s lactate. Additionally, concerns have been raised about expired medicines from state-run medical facilities being distributed at unauthorized health camps, posing risks to patients’ lives.
The state health department official highlighted that the new SOP is also a response to reports of expired medicines being discovered at various voluntary health camps, including those organized by Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has instructed simultaneous investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police and the state health department into these incidents. The SOP aims not only to segregate expired medicines from the inventory but also to ensure their immediate disposal to prevent any potential unauthorized circulation.
