According to doctors and pharmaceutical associations, there are two reasons behind the shortage - the state's attempt to impose price control and the shortage of blood supply for producing the serum.
The hospitals and pharmacies across Mumbai city are facing shortage of the life saving Human Serum Albumin (HSA) from more than nine months now. HSA is a protein in blood plasma that is important for patients with liver and kidney problems as well as during any transplant surgery.
According to doctors and pharmaceutical associations, there are two reasons behind the shortage - the state's attempt to impose price control and the shortage of blood supply for producing the serum.
Speaking with iamin, Dr Hemandra Shah, a kidney transplant surgeon said, "There are only two companies in India that manufacture HSA. The rest of them import it. However with the new regulation by the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), they cannot import it any more, leading to the severe shortage." He said that a similar situation was witnessed in 2008-10 that had surgeons switching to alternatives like Hydroxy Ethyl starch.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Chemist and Druggists Association (MSCDA) says the deficiency of blood and blood-plasma in hospitals is the root cause of serum shortage that has hit not only Mumbai but also Pune, Nashik and other cities across the state.
Talking with iamin, Dilip Mehta, MSCDA President said, "The serum is taken from plasma which is extracted out of blood. However city hospitals are facing paucity of blood. Thus, no serum is available because of lack of plasma."
Mehta added that there are a few retail pharmacy operators who are selling the vials at an escalated price, violating the rules laid by DPCO. As per MSCDA, 50 to 100ml of the serum should not cost more than Rs 6,000. "We abide by the rules of NPPA but if people find any pharmacy overcharging them, we urge them to lodge a complaint with the government," Mehta added.
For the longer version of the report, click here
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