The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday revised the protocol for the sale of Remdesivir. From May 18, hospitals will have to send their representatives to the designated centres to collect the drug.
The system of relatives visiting these centres to get the drug was dropped as it led to chaos and prompted fears of spread of COVID-19 due to the long queues. The change was announced after a meeting between Chief Minister M.K. Stalin with Minister for Medical and Family Welfare M. Subramanian and Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.
On a website to be opened by the government, hospitals will have to upload the details of patients and the required doses of the medicine. Once the drug is allocated, the hospitals will have to send their representatives to collect it from a designated centre.
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Mr. Stalin asked the hospitals to administer the drug only to eligible patients and charge the price at which the drug was supplied.
Officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare will keep tabs on its sale to prevent black marketing of the drug. Legal action will be initiated against hospitals that seek the drug unnecessarily or do not follow the new protocol.
Earlier, relatives of patients waited in long queues, forcing the government to shift the venue to the spacious Nehru Indoor Stadium from the Government Kilpauk Medical College. But the crowds did not diminish. In the past week, many had to return empty-handed or wait at the centres overnight because only a specific quantity of the drug was supplied each day.
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Mr. Stalin wrote to Union Minister Piyush Goyal, thanking the Centre for increasing the number of Remdesivir vials for the State from 7,000 a day to 20,000.