Appoint nodal officers for celebrities helping people get Covid-19 drugs: HC

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said the state should consider appointing nodal officers to contact film stars and politicians who were helping citizens procure Remdesivir and other drugs required for the treatment of Covid19A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni also directed the Union governments counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to arrange for a meeting via videoconference between an official each of the Maharashtra government and the Centre to discuss the gap between the requirement and supply of Remdesivir in the stateAlso Read Pharma companies not supplying mandated Remdesivir quota to Maharashtra TopeThe bench was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations PILs on several issues related to containing the spread of Covid19 in the stateThe state authorities told the bench that while Maharashtras requirement was of 70000 vials of Remdesivir per day it had received only 45000 vials per day so farHowever the Union governments affidavit in the HC claimed that as on April 21 this year a total of eight lakh vials of Remdesivir had been allocated to Maharashtra and the state had received 585062 vials so farThe HC said If there is a difference in the figures given by the Centre and the state then a problem exists at the root level Why cant an officer of the state and the Centre sit and discuss via video conferencingIt directed the Union government to inform the court by May 19 the next date of hearing what has been done to address the shortage of Remdesivir in the state and to ensure manufacturers identified for the state were providing the requisite quantityAdvocate Rajesh Inamdar representing one of the petitioners then told the HC that even as several hospitals in the state were running out of Remdesivir and other drugs like Tocilizumab some celebrities and politicians were responding to citizens pleas made on Twitter and other social media platforms and helping them procure the medicinesHe said citizens were forced to approach the social media and tag celebrities or politicians for helpThere is this film star who is helping people across the country He is loved by everyone People tag him on Twitter for help They say he is even better than the government Inamdar said without taking any nameThere is a video where the actor is asking if a patient needs Remdesivir or Tocilizumab he notedIs he a pharmacist Its good that he is helping but how are government hospitals not getting enough stock the advocate askedInamdar told the HC that Maharashtra had not received any stock of Tocilizumab since May 4 this yearThe state earlier said it had appointed nodal officers to keep an account of the procurement and distribution of Remdesivir and other drugs in staterun municipal and private hospitals and health centresTo this the HC said Why dont you appoint nodal officers for film stars and politicians They stars and politicians will have blessings of God If they are helping people we will not come in their way But why not appoint nodal officers to ensure help reaches all those in needThe HC also said the nodal officers must check if any one including celebrities or politicians was indulging in illegal procurement blackmarketing or hoarding of such drugsWe are here to do justice in accordance with law We cannot go against the law the court said Anjali Navle the counsel for another petitioner said if celebrities and politicians want to help why cant they give that stock to the governmentI say so because there are instances of adulteration of Remdesivir she saidThe HC then asked the state and the Union government to file their affidavits on the issueThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever