News Analysis India

Tag: Oxygen

  • Pandemic profiteering adds to stress of COVID-19 patients

    By Express News Service
    It is not just that the totally inept national healthcare management has made the second wave of Covid-19 more lethal than it ought to have been. It’s that pandemic profiteering by vultures in the system has amplified patient distress and even led to loss of lives. From oximeters to oxygen to ambulances to hospital beds and life saving medicines, the prices of all of them have jumped manifold. Even in states that imposed a price cap on those services, there is hardly any regulatory system to curb fleecing. 

    Amid a surge in Covid cases, the demand for hand sanitisers, masks, pulse oximeters and thermal scanners has gone up. With no cap in the pricing or mechanism to ensure quality, the market is flooded with low-quality products. For example, a pulse oximeter which used to cost around Rs 300 a few months ago now costs upwards of Rs 3,000 in many states. In Tamil Nadu, an oximeter was priced at Rs 700 in March. But one has to shell out Rs 3,000 to buy it now. The inflation in price is almost the same across the country — from around Rs 900 before the pandemic to up to Rs 3,500 now.  

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    According to sources, medical shops get branded oximeters priced between Rs 900 and Rs 5,000, for which MRP is charged. However, products from some Chinese companies will not have MRPs on them. “This is where overpricing occurs. Though the cost is only Rs 700-1,200, medical shops charge up to three times that amount,” said a source.The demand, as well as price, of infrared thermal scanners has also shot up. “During the first wave, the price of infrared thermal scanners had gone up and later the demand declined. Till recently, the price was around Rs 500. But now the price has gone up to Rs 1500-2,000 again,” said All Kerala Chemist and Druggist Association’s Ernakulam district president P V Tomy.

    It is the same story for essential drugs. A pharmacist working in a private hospital in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu said Covid patients are fleeced by private hospitals and pharmacies in several ways. “Ulinastatin, Methylprednisolone Sodium Succinate, and Enoxaparin Sodium injections are currently sold three times their MRPs. A respiratory exerciser worth Rs 250 is sold for Rs 900 in the pharmacies attached to hospitals. A high concentration oxygen mask worth Rs 300 is sold for Rs 1,100,” he added.

    An official with the Tenkasi government hospital said private hospitals were paying Rs 10,000-13,000 bribe to health workers for referring Covid patients to them. “The amount spent on bribing does not matter to these hospitals as they collect Rs 1.5-6 lakh from each Covid patient,” he added. Similarly, private ambulance charges have also risen multiple times. If the charge was Rs 1,000 for a certain distance before the pandemic, it would be around Rs 7,000 now. 

    Sangeeta Mishra, a resident of Uppal in Hyderabd hired an ambulance to ferry a Covid-19 patient to a hospital in Secunderabad — a distance of 10 km.  It cost her Rs 15,000. There have been many cases of people shelling out more than Rs 30,000 for ferrying patients within the city limits. Getting admission in hospitals has never been so difficult. Many hospitals in Hyderabad demand an upfront payment of Rs 5 lakh saying initial charges will be drawn from the same. And, people are willing pay this due to scarcity of beds in government hospitals. 

    “Both my parents are in an ICU and I have to sell my property to pay the bills. I am unable to even raise a complaint because at least they gave provided a bed,” said a 34-year-old Hyderabad resident.The admission fee at private hospitals in TN’s Sivaganga district is at least Rs 1 lakh irrespective of the severity of the patient. Other charges will follow later.

    In Odisha, if you are not an influential person or do not have health insurance or the capacity to pay, you may not find a bed in most private hospitals even though the State government has offered to reimburse the bills of patients covered under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. “When you call a private hospital to know whether it has any vacancy, the staff from the other end would ask if you have any health insurance and about your profession. They would agree to receive a patient only after they are satisfied that you can pay or else they would simply deny admission irrespective of case severity stating that they have no vacancy,” said Prashanta Kumar Jena, an attendant of a patient.

    “Average cost of hospitalisation for a Covid patient is not less than Rs 3 lakh in the private set-ups in Bhubaneswar. In some cases, it is up to Rs 10 lakh. We had to pay Rs 4.5 lakh for 12 days of hospitalisation of my relative at a hospital at Chandrasekharpur. It includes only three days in ICU,” said a government employee.

    Similarly, private labs in Odisha are charging Rs 1,000-1,600 for RT-PCR test even though the state government has capped it at Rs 400. The scarcity of oxygen concentrators has also led to skyrocketing of its prices. In Hyderabad, a 5-liter oxygen concentrator is priced at Rs 95,000-1.2 lakh, against Rs 40,000-60,000 a month ago. The prices of 7-litre and 10-liter oxygen concentrators have also doubled. Dealers say oxygen concentrators are imported from China or the US and arrivals have declined due to restrictions on exports in the source countries.

    When Visakhapatnam-based Vasu Reddy’s kin got tested positive for Covid-19, the patient showed only mild symptoms. After a few days, his oxygen levels dropped drastically. “I couldn’t find any hospital with a bed or ventilator,” he said. Vasu, then, reached out to oxygen cylinder dealers. “But the price quoted by them shocked me. They were asking around Rs 80,000-90,000 for each cylinder. Some even demanded a lakh,” he said. 

    While people of the country are struggling with the second Covid wave, private hospitals have burdened them even further with exorbitant costs for treatment. Patients are being charged arbitrarily and all of this is taking place despite the government being aware of the situation. A sting video released by a patient’s family shows Jaipur’s Dhanvantari Hospital administration asking 60 to 70 thousand rupees for a day’s treatment. From Chandigarh to Delhi in an ambulance with oxygen and a ventilator normally costs Rs 15,000. Now, it’s Rs 35,000.

    Oxygen cylinders normally priced between Rs 4,000-5,000 are being sold for Rs 35,000-40,000 in Bihar. The situation is not very different in West Bengal, where a cylinder of oxygen can cost up to Rs 25,000. Prices of essential drugs like Remdesivir have also gone up. Remdesivir, which costs between Rs 700-Rs 1,500 in normal times, is being sold for as high as Rs 30,000 per unit in Maharashtra. In Jharkhand, oximeters, which normally cost Rs 1,000 are being sold for  Rs  2,500-3,000. It’s a similar situation in Assam, where oximeters are being sold for Rs 2,200 to Rs 3,000. In Chhattisgarh, people are having to cough out several thousands to carry dead bodies from the hospitals to nearby crematorium sites. 

    (With inputs from bureaux in Chennai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, T’puram, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Raipur, Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai)

  • Munger auto driver converts vehicle into ambulance with O2

    Express News Service
    PATNA: At a time when family members of Covid patients are charged exorbitantly by ambulance operators for transporting the dead or critical patients, Mritunjay Kumar, 45, has pitched in with help. He has converted his autorickshaw into an ambulance with oxygen facility in Bihar’s Munger district.

    He says he has done it with the help of a social activist of Munger Manch to save families from falling prey to the greedy ambulance operators. Munger reported the first Covid death in Bihar last year. It has now 2,242 active Covid cases with 94 fatalities since March 2020.

    “My autorickshaw-ambulance serves the poor patients as I ferry them with the help of social activist Lokesh Jain of the Munger Manch organization”, says Mritunjay Kumar. “One may eat less but keep some money aside to save humanity from this pandemic.”

    “I may earn less, but I won’t allow a Covid patient to spend so much on an ambulance. Lokesh Jain has already arranged an oxygen cylinder in the autorickshaw”, he said. He says he charges only Rs 200 from Covid patients for reaching a hospital within a 10 km radius in the city.

    His autorickshaw-ambulance also has a sanitizer, a first-aid kit and a mask with oxygen. He says more autorickshaw drivers should pitch in. He displays his cell phone number on the autorickshaw for the benefit of the people to call him whenever needed. He says he sanitizes his vehicle twice before taking patients to and from hospitals. It has become quite a hit.

  • Covid-19: Supreme Court appreciates ‘Mumbai Model,’ asked Delhi and Centre to take a look at it 

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI:  At a time when Delhi is gasping for oxygen, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been able to bring down positivity and mortality rates, ensuring that not a single Covid patient is deprived of oxygen supply.

    The Supreme Court has appreciated the ‘Mumbai Model’ and asked Delhi and the Centre to take a look at it so that no one in Delhi suffers oxygen shortage. P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (project), told this newspaper that they worked on various fronts to counter oxygen shortage. The normal demand per day for Mumbai’s oxygen is 210 MT, at peak, it was 260 MT and now, it is 240 MT.

    Senior citizens queue up to get vaccinatedoutside a Mumbai hospital | pti“When the first wave receded, we installed 11 tankers with a capacity of 13 kilolitre oxygen supply per minute. There are eight tankers supplying 10 kilolitre oxygen per minute to all major hospitals. Our focus was to create a storage facility. We installed these oxygen-supplying tankers with a concrete base within 40 days,” said P Velrasu.

    Apart from tankers, the BMC also arranged the dura cylinders (these are low-pressure liquid cylinders which provide the longest holding time, lowest evaporation rate, highest gas-withdrawal rate and best life-cycle cost) for nursing homes and small hospitals. “We formed teams of dedicated engineers and technicians for each civic ward. There are 24 wards in Mumbai. The teams’ job is to monitor the use of oxygen, plug leakages and supervise logistics. If anyone uses more than required amount of oxygen, then it is noticed immediately. A judicious use of oxygen is a must in the pandemic time,” said Vijay Balamwar, BMC’s deputy municipal commissioner.

    “We also wrote to the Food & Drugs Administration seeking guidelines for oxygen usage. Each normal positive patient whose oxygen level is down requires 5 litres of oxygen per minute. It can go up to 12-15 litre per minute. It can also come down to 2-3 litre per minute. This micro evaluation helped us to save much on oxygen,” Balamwar said.

    P Velrasu said the state supplies medical oxygen from the centrally allotted plants such as the one in Jamnagar, Gujarat. “The most important point is storage. We cannot have a situation where harassed people are running helter-skelter for oxygen, which is what is happening in Delhi,” he said. He said a quick response team was formed to handle an emergency situation, which was visualised: there could be a mismatch or miscommunication; hospitals could face a sudden shortage of oxygen threatening the stocks. In such a situation, the QRT was to be sent,” said Velrasu.

    InstructionHospitals have been told that if their supply of oxygen dries up, they should inform BMC at least three hours in advance

  • Three killed, six injured in explosion while refilling oxygen cylinder in Lucknow

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Three people lost their lives and six others were injured when an oxygen cylinder exploded while it was being refilled in Chinhat area here on Wednesday, police said.

    SHO of Chinhat police station Dhananjay Pandey said the incident occurred at at KT oxygen plant.

    “Three people have died, and six others were injured in the explosion which took place while refilling an oxygen cylinder. Two injured persons are admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, while four are undergoing treatment at the trauma centre of KGMU. I have visited the explosion site, RML Hospital and KGMU trauma centre. The injured are being the best medical treatment free of cost,” District Magistrate of Lucknow, Abhishek Prakash, told PTI.

    A team, comprising the additional district magistrate, additional DCP, chief fire inspector and drug inspector, has been formed to probe the incident, he said.

    Lucknow Police Commissioner D K Thakur, who also reached the spot, said that efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the deceased.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident and directed officials to probe the reasons behind the incident.

  • The third wave of corona may come, you should also be cautious

    MP Sunil Soni held a review meeting with AIIMS management on availability of oxygen, ventilator, vaccination and other essential equipment at Raipur AIIMS. During the brainstorm on the arrangement of the hospital, a surprising thing also came to light. AIIMS director Dr. Nitin M. Nagerkar did not rule out the possibility of a third wave of Kovid and said that everyone needs to be prepared for it. On this occasion, experts informed them that the second wave of Kovid-19 is proving more deadly. Despite this, serious patients are reaching specialists late. Many patients are arriving after taking all medicines from private physicians. The death rate remains higher than this. MP Soni praised the doctors working in various government hospitals including AIIMS and said that they need to cure more and more patients while protecting themselves from infection.

    In this period of epidemic, doctors remain the ray of hope of the society. He said that with the help of social organizations and industrial institutions, he is constantly making efforts to strengthen the medical institutions from hospitals to voluntary organizations. He received information about ventilators, oxygen and vaccination in AIIMS. Also know about the double mutation of Kovid virus.

    AIIMS director Dr. Nitin M. Nagerkar said that after the second wave, most of the serious patients are coming to AIIMS. Most of these patients are arriving late, whose oxygen level is very low or they are bringing all medicines from private doctors. In such a situation, it becomes challenging to bring them back to normalcy. He said that most patients are in need of oxygen and steroid immediately. AIIMS has provided adequate oxygen beds for this. He also apprised MP Soni about vaccination and availability of oxygen.

  • ‘Raise medical oxygen allocation by 200 MT’: Maharashtra writes to Centre

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has demanded the Centre enhance the present allocation of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to the state by at least 200 metric tonnes (MT) which will help in better management of the demand for the life-saving gas.

    In a letter addressed to Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on May 3, Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte also demanded that 10 LMO tankers be allocated to the state to enable lifting of the allocated oxygen quota.

    The state government has requested that the supply from Jamnagar in Gujarat be increased to 225 MT per day from the current 125 MT per day and from Bhilai to 230 MT per day from the current 130 MT.

    ”These geographically close locations will reduce the turnaround time of oxygen tankers, which are limited in numbers. This will also enhance our daily lifting and better demand management,” Kunte stated.

    The chief secretary said of the 6,63,758 (COVID-19) active cases in Maharashtra, 78,884 patients are on medical oxygen including 24,787 in the ICUs of hospitals.

    Kunte also said 16 districts -Palghar, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nandurbar, Beed, Parbhani, Hingoli, Amravati, Buldhana, Wardha, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur are showing continuous growth in coronavirus positive cases and the oxygen requirement is on the rise.

    “Considering the rise in the demand for medical oxygen, the present allocation to the state can be enhanced by at least 200 MT. This allocation may be raised at the locations convenient to Maharashtra,” Kunte added.

    He also urged the Union government to allocate at least 10 LMO tankers to Maharashtra to enable lifting of the allocated oxygen quota from the steel plant located at Angul (Odisha) via Ro Ro (Roll-on/ roll off) service.

    As of Monday, the overall COVID-19 caseload in Maharashtra stood at 47,71,022 while the death toll reached 70,851, the state health department had said.

    Given the huge rise in cases, Maharashtra has been battling the shortage of medical oxygen in many hospitals.

    In a bid to tide over the shortage crisis, the state government has initiated various measures including setting up of the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen generation plants.

    All tankers carrying liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in the state are being fitted with GPS devices in order to track their movement and ensure better management of supply of the life-saving gas to COVID-19 patients, a senior official said on Tuesday.

    Speaking to PTI, state transport commissioner Avinash Dhakane said currently, 250 tankers are being used for the supply of LMO, demand for which has surged with the rise in COVID-19 cases.

    “Nearly 50 per cent of the 250 tankers are already fitted with GPS, while the remaining will be fitted with it within a few days. Once all the tankers fitted with these device, their movement can be tracked from the control room,” Dhakane said.

    A control room has been set up for monitoring the movement of tankers supplying oxygen across the state and officials from the Road Transport Offices have been deputed to get the GPS devices fitted, he said, adding that LMO is being supplied from 19 different plants through tankers.

    The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) has funded the work of installing GPS on oxygen tankers, the official said.

    Meanwhile, the FADA in a release stated that its state president Amar Jatin Sheth had recently met the transport commissioner to understand how the association can contribute in the fight against COVID-19 and on his recommendation, FADA Maharashtra decided to fix the 250 oxygen tankers with GPS devices.

  • Four held for black marketing of oxygen cylinders in Lucknow

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Four persons were arrested here on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in black marketing of oxygen cylinders in two separate cases, police said.

    Acting on a tip off, police arrested the accused, Vishnu and Vikas, for illegal trading of cylinders at their agency — Balaji Jeevan Dayani — in Kalyanpur locality in the Gudamba area, Police Commissioner DK Thakur told PTI.

    Police recovered 87 empty oxygen cylinders and Rs 1 lakh from their possession, the officer said, adding the accused have confessed to the crime.

    In the second case, two men — Ikram Ali and Ayush Shukla — were arrested from Gomti Nagar area and 10 filled jumbo oxygen cylinders and eight empty cylinders were seized.

  • Experts say oxygen concentrators can be used only in moderate COVID-19 cases, not by all

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Health experts on Saturday said oxygen concentrators can be used only in moderate cases of COVID-19 when a patient experiences a drop in oxygen level and not by everyone who finds it below acceptable limits.

    According to the health ministry, the experts also made it clear that using oxygen concentrators without medical guidance can be very harmful.

    Given their usefulness during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 lakh oxygen concentrators were being procured using PM CARES fund, the ministry said in a statement.

    Head of the Anaesthesia Department in B J Medical College, Pune, Sanyogita Naik said, “Oxygen concentrators can be used only in moderate cases of COVID-19 when a patient experiences a drop in oxygen level and where the requirement is a maximum of 5 litres per minute.”

    The professor added that the machines are also very useful for those experiencing post-COVID complications which necessitate oxygen therapy.

    Asked if the oxygen concentrators can be used without medical guidance, Dr Chaitanya H.Balakrishnan, COVID Coordinator at St. John’s Medical College Hospital in Bengaluru said, “The answer is a strict no.”

    Addressing a webinar organized by the Press Information Bureau on April 30, Dr Balakrishnan made it clear that using oxygen concentrators without medical guidance can be very harmful.

    “Patients with moderate pneumonia induced by COVID-19 with oxygen saturation less than 94 can benefit from supplemental oxygen given through oxygen concentrator, but only till they get hospital admission.”

    “So, till you get a bed, oxygen concentrators can be beneficial, but definitely not without the guidance of chest physician or internal medicine specialist. It also depends on patients’ pre-existing lung conditions,” Dr Balakrishnan said.

    Prof.Sanyogita too said that both the purchase and use of oxygen concentrators have to be done only based on a prescription by a doctor.

    The health ministry said India has seen a big spurt in the manufacture and sale of oxygen concentrators in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic which has stretched the country’s health infrastructure to its limits leading to a shortage in medical oxygen and hospital beds.

  • District administration not allowing me to set up oxygen plant in Budaun: Former MP

    By PTI
    BADAUN: Former Lok Sabha MP from Budaun and senior Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav on Saturday claimed that the district administration has denied him the permission to set up an oxygen plant at the government medical college here.

    Budaun District Magistrate Deepa Ranjan, however, said he has not received any such proposal in writing from Yadav, and he can submit a letter in this regard.

    Yadav claimed that he wants to set up the oxygen plant using his own resources, but the district administration has not given permission for it.

    The SP leader said if he gets the permission in this hour of crisis, “there will be no deaths due to lack of oxygen”.

    “At this point of time, rising above politics, permission should be granted to set up the oxygen plant. Whatever be the cost of the plant, the money will be arranged for it,” he said.

    The DM said if Yadav collects money and gives it to the administration, then the tendering will be done, and if he wants to set up an oxygen plant using his own fund, then the permission for it has to be sought from the government.

  • UP: Denied hospital admission, patients camp under ‘peepal’ tree ‘for oxygen’

    By PTI
    SHAHJAHANPUR: A group of people camped under a ‘peepal’ (sacred fig) tree here after allegedly being refused admission in a hospital, believing that it emits a higher level of oxygen.

    Around half-a-dozen people spread their beds under the tree along with their patients, according to Ravindra Maurya, whose sister also took shelter.

    However, the chief medical officer said only one coronavirus-positive person was found at the spot in Tilhar area — 25 km from the district headquarters — and the patient had been hospitalised.

    He claimed that there was no shortage of oxygen.

    Roshan Lal Verma, the BJP MLA from Tilhar, said on Saturday that he went to the spot after getting information that some people were spreading beds under the tree due to shortage of oxygen.

    “As I went near the tree, I saw 8-9 people spreading their beds. Some people fled after seeing me, thinking that police will come, arrest them and send them to jail,” Verma told PTI.

    These people had gone to the medical college, but they were not admitted there.

    Therefore, they put their beds under the sacred fig tree, according to the BJP leader.

    “These people are staying under the tree for the past five-six days,” he said.

    In a purported video, a man and a woman who are sitting on a mattress is attending to a girl who seems to be ill.

    The man is also waving a hand fan at the teenager.

    “We were sitting under the tree as it releases huge amount of oxygen. The other patients who were sitting with us had low oxygen level,” Maurya told PTI over phone.

    He said the Health Department had took his sister for COVID testing and she tested negative.

    But despite this, she was admitted to a COVID ward, following which they decided to take shelter under the tree, Maurya alleged.

    Verma claimed that he had tried to contact Shajahanpur MLA and Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna, but to no avail.

    “Even today, he (Khanna) did not receive the call. After this, when the entire matter was briefed to District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh, he took it seriously and sent an ambulance to the spot,” Verma said.

    When contacted, Chief Medical Officer S P Gautam said, “On getting the information, we had sent a team, which could find only one person there. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalised.”

    “We have enough oxygen available with us,” Gautam claimed.

    “People who want to stay in their houses and get their treatment done there, giving them oxygen is not possible. But patients admitted in the hospitals are being given oxygen,” the official added.