The Kerala State Medicinal Supply Corporation Ltd has declared 11 drugs as Not of Standard Quality out of a total of 39 supplied by Kerala State Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd this year and blacklisted all the batches.

The Corporation has recalled the batches form the user institutions and transferred them to quarantine area. It has also issued stop notices to the public sector company in this regard, said Biju Prabhakar, managing director of KSMSCL.

This year the Corporation has not given any order of supplies to KSDP as it had not honoured its commitment last year. The company had agreed to supply 53 categories of drugs in 2011, but it supplied only 39 items and that too with no regularity. So, to avoid shortage of drugs in the hospitals, government was forced to buy medicines from outside agencies. This year KSDP was asked to go by tender process, but it did not participate in the tender, the MD told Pharmabiz.

When asked about the huge stocks of drugs lying unsold in KSDP, he said they could have approached through tender process. Government cannot pay a price 15 per cent more than the market rate. The corporation had earlier given assurance to the company that a price preference of 15 per cent, but it is now asking for 90 per cent.

“How can the government purchase drugs at 90 per cent higher than the market prices? Last year the Corporation gave an order of Rs.32 crore, but received drugs worth only Rs.12.9 crore. In 2010 the Corporation gave an order for Rs.11.5 crore worth of medicines. All the products purchased from the company were at rates higher than the market prices. The state government is spending this much amount to a company where only 125 employees are working. He said the drugs produced by the company are also failing in quality standards. The company is not operating to its full capacity and GMP is complied with. If the company agrees to reduce their prices then only we will consider purchasing the drugs from them”, he told this reporter.

The drugs found not of standard quality are norfloxacin tab 400 mg (S30047 and S30033), omeprazol cap 20 mg (AC1004 , AC 1009, AC 10027, Ac 1020 and Ac1019), amoxycilin dry syrup 5ml (X21003, X21004 and X21005) and amoxycilin cap 500 mg (AB1326).

When contacted, K B Jayakumar, the managing director of KSDP, said that last year the company had a turnover of Rs.32 crore and it has been making profit for the last four years. Since the company got a state government directive stating that it need not go by tender process until March 31, 2013 it is expecting orders from the government..

K Rajendran, the employees’ Union secretary of KSDP said that huge stocks of antibiotics, ORS, liquid items and bulks of paracetamol are lying unsold with the company due to the apathy of the Corporation. He said the company used to sell the unsold items to other states before expiry, but its outside sales are restricted now. The company got a grant of Rs.20 crore in 2009 from the state government and with that it upgraded the facilities including GMP.