Overall, price differences for all medicines procured through these intermediaries during a six-month stretch in the last financial year totalled Rs 192 crore.
“The agencies create artificial shortages to pave the way for emergency purchases at inflated costs,” said a source. “Under the guise of emergency procurement, these agencies even bring in blacklisted firms, showing complete disregard for quality controls and expiry dates.”
Citing one instance, the source noted that a rare oncology drug was bought through emergency channels at Rs 80 per unit instead of its standard Rs 64, despite low demand that easily allowed for routine procurement.
The health department has now formed a specialised six-member inspection panel headed by retired SP G Gopakumaran Nair, who had probed KMSCL drug procurement cases while with the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
‘Inventory mgmt critical for stability’
The squad includes undersecretary (health) Bijukumar T, assistant drugs controller Vinod V, In-House Drug Bank chief pharmacist A Biju, a KMSCL pharmacist, and retired medical education technical officer Dr Suresh Kumar G. The team is authorised to conduct unannounced physical audits across all 14 district drug warehouses and two sub-warehouses to reconcile physical stock against digital records, prevent stock manipulation, isolate near-expiry items and monitor waste disposal compliance.
The department is already dissolving KMSCL’s internal quality control wing and transferring oversight directly to the State Drugs Control office. Officials cited evidence that the secrecy of sampling data had been compromised under the old system.