Three chemist shops and four private hospitals in Haryana and Telangana have so far been identified as sources from where the medicines were allegedly misappropriated
In Aug, Delhi Police arrested 17 people, busting the multi-state racket allegedly targeting cancer patients and their families across the country, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The drugs worth around Rs 9 crore were seized, including 588 vials of critical cancer injections and 3,021 units of other medicines, besides Rs 50 lakh in cash.
The patients and their relatives questioned so far have told police that they had no idea the sellers were allegedly part of a racket and had no reason to suspect that some of the vials might have originally been meant for other patients. Some of these patients have been examined by police,” a source said. “These findings may help us build a stronger chargesheet,” the source added.
“Most of the patients for whom the vials were legitimately issued were also from Haryana, but the medicines were allegedly misappropriated and sold to others. Police are trying to establish whether patients whose medicines were diverted missed their prescribed doses and whether any such interruption affected their treatment. Police may approach a premier hospital for an expert opinion on the impact of patients missing their scheduled doses or treatment cycles. Some of the drugs were allegedly fake.
The medical consequences of the alleged diversion have become an important part of the investigation.