Wednesday , March 27 2024

Low price of a lifesaving drug raises quality concerns

(Moniruzzaman Uzzal): The company that sells a vial of Ceftriaxone at Tk120 in the market, is supplying the same drug at only Tk34 to the DMCH. A private company has been reportedly supplying a lifesaving injectable antibiotic to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital at nearly one-sixth of its market price, raising quite a few eyebrows.

The antibiotic called Ceftriaxone, which is generally available in the market for Tk120 to Tk180, is being supplied to the DMCH for only Tk34. Ceftriaxone is a third-generation antibiotic often used for the treatment of pneumonia and meningitis. People concerned have raised questions about how had it been possible for the company to supply the drug at such a low price. They suspected that the drug might not contain the optimum ingredients, thus enabling the company to supply it at such a low price.

Seeking anonymity, a number of doctors have alleged that the antibiotic supplied to the DMCH by the company takes a lot more time to start working compared to the drug that is available in the market.

Doctors have said it could also be the other way round – that the drug companies are charging the general customers too much in the open market. The fact that it could be actually sold at one-sixth of the market price, could be proof, they said.

The DMCH consumes a total of around 500,000 vials of Ceftriaxone every year.

The Dhaka Tribune understands that on June 28, the hospital authorities sent 40 samples of the antibiotic, selected randomly from the hospital drug store, to the Drug Testing Laboratory in Mohakhali.

The official letter, signed by DMCH Director Brigadier General Mostafizur Rahman, said the hospital had been using different kinds of lifesaving drugs. “The competitive tenders for supplying these drugs are floated through the government’s Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD). Companies that bid the lowest tender prices are given the work order to supply the corresponding drugs.”

The letter reportedly asked the laboratory to test the potency and sterility of the Ceftriaxone injection that the company had supplied.

Although the DMCH director admitted to our correspondent that such samples were sent for testing, he refused to disclose any further details.

Officials involved with the procurement of drugs at DMCH claimed that the company had been regularly exporting drugs and that it had a good reputation in the market.

The Dhaka Tribune has learned that the company got the work order for supplying Ceftriaxone at Tk34.95 per vial to the DMCH in the 2012-13 fiscal year. One such vial is generally sold at Tk120 in the market.

For the ongoing fiscal that 2013-14, the same company got the work order again by quoting Tk34 per vial, curtailing the price by Tk0.95.

The next lowest bidder reportedly quoted Tk35.95. One other leading drug supplier, whose Ceftriaxone is sold at Tk180 in the market, had quoted Tk143.

There have been allegations that although the contract binds the company to supply the liquid in clear vials, it often supplies the drug in low-quality red containers to save cost.

However, some doctors, preferring to be unnamed, said companies could actually supply drugs at low wholesale prices because the DMCH procures huge amounts every year. They added that the market prices of many of these drugs have been a lot higher because the makers have had to compensate for the amounts they would spend on marketing.

Besides, successfully carrying out a work order for the biggest healthcare facility in the country has been like a certificate for the company, with which it can bag international export work orders. That is why many companies have preferred to make the least profits in supplying drugs to the DMCH, the doctors said.

Seeking anonymity, a number of responsible people working in the health sector, have told the Dhaka Tribune that all the medicine-making raw materials available in the international market “are not of the same quality”.

They added that most of the drug-makers in Bangladesh generally import the materials from India and China. Depending on the longevity — the expiry dates — the prices of raw materials would also vary.

Also, they have said that the company, which had been assigned to supply Ceftriaxone with two years of shelf-life, might have bought the materials that would last exactly that long and therefore cost a lot less. (Source: Dhaka Tribune)

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