How Fake Keytruda Reached Cancer Patients In India: This story, which started from an ordinary house in Punjab, exposes a dangerous truth of cancer treatment in India. In the beginning of the year 2022, a 56-year-old woman living near Chandigarh was undergoing treatment for liver cancer at PGIMER. Doctors advised him to take Keytruda, an expensive immunotherapy drug, which costs more than Rs 1.5 lakh for a 100 mg vial. It was not easy to raise such a huge amount, so between September and December the family bought 12 vials at a discount for about Rs 16 lakh. But after some time, a call came from Delhi Police and it was found that these medicines were fake, in which antifungal medicine was filled.
revealed in the investigation
This case is not alone. A joint investigation by The Indian Express and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has revealed that a large counterfeit market of expensive cancer drugs, especially Keytruda, is active in India. This investigation included more than 12,500 pages of records, hospital data and conversations with doctors.
The network works in a very organized manner
Investigation revealed that this entire network works in a very organized manner. Empty vials are collected, filled with other medicines, resealed and then sold in the market at a cheaper price. Many times this price is up to 40 percent less than the original, due to which patients feel relieved, but this becomes their biggest mistake.
The most shocking thing is that people inside hospitals were also found involved in this network. Some pharmacists working at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Center in Delhi allegedly used to take out used or half-filled vials and sell them to this racket. During the raid, the police recovered several vials, empty boxes and suspicious batch numbers, which directly matched the medicines given to the patients. During the investigation, when the police started unraveling the layers of this entire network, an important name came to the fore, Parvez. He had earlier worked as a pharmacist in a hospital and later became an important part of this racket. According to the police, Parvez was the link who was handling the work of bringing out the medicines from inside the hospital and supplying them further.
People working in hospital included
Parvez also told that he contacted Komal and Abhay, who worked at the hospital, who provided him empty and filled vials. He told that I will give Rs 3000 for the empty vial and if they provide the filled injection, then Rs 40 thousand to Rs 50 thousand will be given in return. In this way, within 8 to 9 months, he got 10-12 filled vials and 120 wires from Komal and Abhay gave him 10 empty and 10-12 filled wires. Which were later sold through this illegal network.
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the patient died
The investigation also revealed that despite strict protocols in place in hospitals, there was a major shortcoming that there was no concrete system for counting empty vials. This entire game was run by taking advantage of this loophole. Later, hospitals increased surveillance, strengthened CCTV systems and made the medicine disposal process more stringent. The most painful effect of this racket falls on the patients. A woman from Bihar, who was buying injections from an online platform in search of cheaper medicine, died after her condition deteriorated during treatment. Later the family came to know that the medicine could have been fake. Police officials say that this matter is not limited to just one gang. This shows the weakness of a big system, where patients easily become victims of fraud amid expensive treatment and financial pressure.
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