Hyderabad: According to Telangana Government the rampant use of Remdesivir drug by the private hospitals is leading to its artificial shortage.
Director Public Health Dr. Srinivas Rao said that Remdesivir is still under experiment and is effective only in selective cases.
Dr. Rao said that the private hospitals were specifically instructed not to prescribe this drug for every COVID-19 case. This drug is effective only in limited number of cases.
Dr. Rao said, “All viral diseases are ‘self limiting’ which means the human body can fight such infection. The drug could only be useful when the viral infection is acute. Remdesivir could only be useful in selected number of patients who are not allergic to the drug. But right now the drug is being used rampantly everywhere from homes to hospitals,”
Hetero Drug and Mylon are manufacturing Remdesivir in the state. Hetero manufactures between 20,000 to 30,000 vials daily to supply the drug all over the country.
“Hospitals and the patients must know that Remdesivir is not available in the market openly. To prevent its misuse, the Drug Control Authority of Telangana has prepared a list of the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and sent it to the Ramdesivir manufacturers who would despatch the drug directly to the hospitals as per their requirements,” Dr. Rao said.
Dr. Rao advised the public to use the services of Government hospitals where there is no shortage of any medicine. “Instead of running after a magic drug, the people must take precautionary measures. Any pandemic can only be stopped and not cured,” Dr. Rao said.