New Delhi: While India battles a worrying Covid-19 second wave, criminals have not shied away from misusing this time of crisis and are indulging in illegal practices such as Black-marketing of necessary antiviral drugs and even selling fake ones to destressed people trying to procure them for patients' treatment.
In such a time, genuine concerns arise over how one can spot the fake drugs being sold by criminals, in some cases even those involved in pharmaceutical practices.
Delhi Police DCP Crime Monika Bhardwaj has shared some simple tips on Twitter to make people aware of how fake Remdisivir vials can be spotted.
- She illustrated how Rx before the Remdesivir text is missing on the fake package.
- There is an alignment error on the package.
- There are several capitalisation errors to take note of.
- At, the back the red warning label as seen on the original is missing.
- The proper manufacturer information is missing.
- There's another capitalisation and spelling error.
Here are both fake and real Remdesivir packages for comparison as shared by another Twitter user:
Agencies Against Criminals Selling Remdesivir
From state police organisations to Intelligence Bureau (IB), several major law enforcing agencies are trying to nab criminal gangs, hoarders, and black marketeers, suspected of hoarding doses of Remdesivir. Special squads have been formed in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while police commissioners of several districts in Maharashtra and Gujarat are working tirelessly to prevent theft.
"Our STF teams and district police squads have busted several modules in the state, arresting more than 46 people accused of hoarding Remdesivir and even medical oxygen cylinders,"Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order, Uttar Pradesh told news agency IANS.
Huge profit margins, often five times the actual value of a Remdesiver vial, have tempted even hospital staff to dupe patients. "We unearthed an ongoing racket in a prominent medical college, where ward boys were selling Remdesivir in the black market. The medical staff administered distilled water injections to patients, and instead sold their genuine Remdesivir injections at a whopping price of Rs 25,000," an SP rank officer was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, each injection of Remdesivir priced around Rs 3,400 to Rs 5,400 is being sold for more than Rs 30,000 to 40,000 in the black market.
About the involvement of local stockists of such drugs, ADG, UP, Prashant Kumar, said that nexus between certain chemist shops or a few stockists cannot be ruled out.
"We are verifying specific inputs, where stockists concerned with the distribution of these injections are involved in hoarding. Once booked we will slap NSA (National Security Act) against such culprits," the ADG told IANS.