Day after 5 held, efforts to trace 900 patients who took fake remdesivir on

Bengaluru: Mysuru police have started a survey to identify at least 900 patients who were injected with fake remdesivir, said an officer aware of the development. The process began after the police arrested five people, including a nurse at a private hospital in Vidyanagar in Bengaluru, for selling fake remdesivir.

A person identified as Girish was arrested by police on Monday following a raid. “We have been receiving information about the sale of Remdesivir in the market and our officers were tracking the lead. One of the leads led to Girish and we arrested him after sending decoy to purchase the vials,” said Mysuru police commissioner Dr Chandragupta.

During the investigation, police had a doubt about the quality of the vial. “When we checked for the source of his supply, he was not able to give a proper answer. When we continued to question him on his supply, he claimed that he was selling fake medicine,” the commissioner added.

Many vials labelled as remdesivir, but actually filled with paracetamol in liquid form and saline solution, have been seized during the raid, said police. According to the national treatment protocol, remdesivir is one of the investigational drugs approved for use in treating hospitalised Covid-19 patients. The drug has been in huge demand ever since pharmacists ran out of stock and the state government began supplying it directly to hospitals.

According to police, Girish has been selling fake remdesivir since last year. He would collect used bottles of the medicine and fill it with cheap antibiotics or just saline solution, police said, adding that he has sold at least 900 to 1,000 vials to customers in Mysuru, Bengaluru and other places.

Police have arrested four more people. A couple who was supplying the empty bottles to Girish and two medical representatives who were helping Girish sell the fake medicines. Their identities were withheld since the investigation is still underway.

The Mysuru police commissioner admitted that police have a big task to identify those who have taken the medicine. “We are already on it. We are collecting information from the accused and we will be tracking down the patients who have taken medicines. Since he has been doing this for nearly a year now and was selling the fake medicine at MRP, there were a lot of customers,” the commissioner added.

Reports of shortage of remdesivir injections increased in Karnataka as the number of Covid-19 cases continued to surge. According to medical practitioners, the anti-viral injection, which costs between ₹1,000 and ₹5,500 depending on the brand, was being sold for ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 in the black market.

On Thursday, Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai warned of action against those spreading rumors about the shortage. Bengaluru police on Sunday arrested at least three persons for allegedly hoarding and black marketing remdesivir.

The CCB (central crime branch) conducted a drive across Bengaluru and arrested the three accused who were having illegal stock of the injection and were selling them at ₹10,500 each, which is much higher than the MRP. A total of 11 vials of injections were seized during the raid.