Allegations of Inflated Medicine Prices: MoHFW team inspects AIIMS Bhopal
Bhopal- Bhopal MP Alok Sharma has alleged that medicines are purchased at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhopal at inflated prices. In response, a team of officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) visited the institute to check the documents related to the purchase of medicines.
The central team visited AIIMS Bhopal on Thursday morning and examined the documents related to the purchase of medicines. The team also met the director of the institute and took information about the purchase process.
Earlier, the matter was also raised before the AIIMS Finance Standing Committee in a meeting held in Delhi. The meeting was held on May 15 in New Delhi in the presence of Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Shrivastava. Sharma said, "In the meeting, I complained about the high prices of medicines being purchased by AIIMS Bhopal. They assured me that the matter will be investigated."
According to an India Today news report, the complaint filed by Bhopal MP Alok Sharma, who is also a member of the AIIMS standing committee, states that the prices of medicines purchased by AIIMS Bhopal are much more expensive compared to AIIMS in other states of India.
The MP also said that he has received a complaint that Gemcitabine injection was purchased by Bhopal AIIMS at Rs 2100 per piece, while it is being purchased by Raipur AIIMS in Chhattisgarh at Rs 425. In Delhi AIIMS, its price is Rs 285 per piece. Not only this, but the prices of other medicines were also found to be high.
In all AIIMS of India, medicines are purchased through tenders like any other government hospital. But during the COVID-19 period, direct purchase of medicines was approved. On this, Sharma said, "However, even after the end of the COVID-19 period, direct purchase of medicines continued and the number of medicines purchased reached crores."
