B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Faridkot chemists fleece gullible cancer patients
Faridkot, August 23
Days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to finalise the prices of anti-cancer drug formulations and asked the NPPA to widely publicise the anti-cancer drugs being brought under the price control so that there is no fleecing of the patients, some authorised chemists at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH), Faridkot, continue to take the helpless and mostly illiterate cancer patients hailing from the rural areas for a ride.

Villagers seek police action against accused
Barnala, August 23
The residents of Beehla Khurd village, near Tallewal, today staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) here, demanding strict action against the accused who had demolished a crematorium, built in the village in memory of a CRPF jawan Darshan Singh. The crematorium was reportedly demolished with the intention of taking possession of the land.

9 held for clash with cops in Abohar
Abohar, August 23
Most of the 80 residents of Sayeedwala village who were charged with attempt to murder, rioting, obstructing official work and damaging government property after clashes with the police at the Abulkhurana drain on Wednesday are missing from their houses, sources said. About 30 of them, including a woman, were identified in the FIR registered on the basis of the statement given by the sub-divisional engineer of the Drainage Department Shashi Bhushan. The police was able to arrest only nine of the accused today.

Faridkot chemists fleece gullible cancer patients
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 23
Days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to finalise the prices of anti-cancer drug formulations and asked the NPPA to widely publicise the anti-cancer drugs being brought under the price control so that there is no fleecing of the patients, some authorised chemists at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH), Faridkot, continue to take the helpless and mostly illiterate cancer patients hailing from the rural areas for a ride.

In some cases, when the authorities of the GGSMCH came to know about it, the chemist shops in the medical college prepared fake bills to hoodwink the authorities and cover their wrongdoings.

One such shocking incident came to light when Jaspal Singh, a resident of Jand Sahib village, submitted the bills of some cancer medicines in the office of the Medical Superintendent, GGSMCH, for reimbursement under the Punjab Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund. Jaspal’s wife Harpreet Kaur is a cancer patient and is undergoing treatment at the GGSMCH.

The inspection of these bills by the office of the Medical Superintendent found that most of the medicines were overpriced, up to 50 per cent more than the prices fixed by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and the GGSMCH. As the prices of these medicines were higher than the ceiling prices fixed by the medical college, these bills could not be reimbursed from the CM's Cancer Relief Fund.

When the detection of these inflated bills of cancer drugs caught the chemists in the medical college on the wrong foot, they found a new modus operandi to pacify the patients. “The chemist provided me a fake bill of Rs 2,304 without buying any medicine and suggested ways to get it reimbursed from the CM’s Cancer Relief Fund to compensate me for the earlier inflated bill,” alleged Jaspal Singh, in a complaint sent to Vini Mahajan, secretary, Health Department, Punjab.

“This is a common practice of selling the medicines at inflated rates as most cancer patients who are illiterate and hail from rural areas are not able to assess the market value of the drugs,” said Gurpreet Singh, president of Bhai Ghanaiya Cancer Roko Sewa Society.

After the Society lodged a complaint with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the HC took a suo moto notice of this complaint and treating it as a public interest litigation, put the Punjab government and the NPPA on notice. In its complaint to the HC, the Society had accused some pharmaceutical companies of looting cancer patients by printing inflated maximum retail price on the medicines.

Dr SP Singh, the officiating superintendent of the GGSMCH, said the guilty chemist would not be spared as he had charged above the ceiling prices fixed by the college.

Razing of crematorium
Villagers seek police action against accused

Barnala, August 23
The residents of Beehla Khurd village, near Tallewal, today staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) here, demanding strict action against the accused who had demolished a crematorium, built in the village in memory of a CRPF jawan Darshan Singh. The crematorium was reportedly demolished with the intention of taking possession of the land.

The protesters raised slogans against the police for not allegedly initiating action against the accused. They sought the arrest of the alleged accused without any further delay. They also submitted a memorandum demanding action against the alleged accused, to the DC here.

Dr Indu Malhotra, the DC, said she had forwarded the memorandum to the SSP for initiating action on the complaint of the villagers against the persons, allegedly responsible for the demolition of the crematorium. — TNS

9 held for clash with cops in Abohar
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, August 23
Most of the 80 residents of Sayeedwala village who were charged with attempt to murder, rioting, obstructing official work and damaging government property after clashes with the police at the Abulkhurana drain on Wednesday are missing from their houses, sources said. About 30 of them, including a woman, were identified in the FIR registered on the basis of the statement given by the sub-divisional engineer of the Drainage Department Shashi Bhushan. The police was able to arrest only nine of the accused today.

Most of the accused were known for their allegiance to the ruling alliance. There were efforts to make the authorities take a lenient view but it did not find favour as senior officials were pelted with stones in which a DSP had a marginal escape. The administration has imposed prohibitory orders.

The drain water fury took a new turn today as gushing waters from the Aspal drain proceeded to village Ramgarh after submerging village Gaddandob where a government school, water works, religious places and cremation ground are now under knee-deep water.