Lokayukta officials conducted a raid at the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) pharmacy main store on Wednesday, uncovering cartons of expired drugs valued at lakhs of rupees. Among the expired drugs was Remdesivir worth Rs 40 lakh, which had been stockpiled during the COVID-19 pandemic but had passed its use-by date in 2022.
Hospital authorities are mandated to return drugs two months before their expiry, but the storage of expired medicines has raised serious concerns about potential corruption in the supply chain. The raid was initiated following a complaint from a citizen named Keshavamurthy.
During the pandemic, private hospitals charged Rs 1.5-2 lakh for Remdesivir, making the discovery of large quantities of the expired drug at MIMS particularly troubling. The failure to properly manage these drugs has likely resulted in significant financial losses to the exchequer, according to sources.
This is not the first time MIMS has come under scrutiny for mishandling drugs. In 2016-17, a similar raid by Lokayukta officials revealed expired drugs worth lakhs stored at the hospital.
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