The court emphasized the necessity of efficient drug distribution, transparency in hospital admission reporting, and timely insurance processing to ensure patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)--This hearing has been done through video conferencing.

2. These matters relate to COVID-19 patients where various issues have been raised by ld. counsels appearing for the parties. Apart from these two petitions this Court has also received various petitions wherein hospital admissions have been sought by Covid-19 patients. Ld. Counsels appearing in all the Covid-19 matters have been heard. There have been some emotional moments during the hearings as some of the patients are closely associated to the counsels appearing in the matters and the non-availability of hospital beds has led to enormous personal stress and a sense of helplessness, which is the experience of thousands of families with COVID-19 patients and citizens across the country. Some of the petitions have been disposed of as arrangements for admission of the said patients in hospitals as also ambulance arrangements were made during the course of the hearings.

3. In the present two petitions, the first petition deals with the non-availability of the drug Remdesivir. The second petition deals with various issues of the portal maintained by the GNCTD in respect of hospital admissions - www.delhifightscorona.in. While submissions were being heard, certain further issues have also been raised by ld. Counsels relating to hospital admissions and discharge of patients; delay in receipt of approvals from insurance companies leading to delay discharge of patients from hospitals; delay in RTPCR and blood tests, as also shortage of testing kits.

Shortage of Remdesivir in Delhi:

4. Remdesivir, is an anti-viral drug which is approved for Covid-19 patients since March 2020, subject to certain conditions. The same has been administered to patients for more than a year now. There are three aspects which need to be considered at this stage in respect of Remdesivir:

i. The protocol for administration of the drug;

ii. The allocation of the drug for the State of Delhi; and

iii. The distribution and sale of the drug.

5. Today's hearing has been attended by Dr. Vinod Kotwal, Member Secretary, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Mr. Ved Prakash Mishra, Director, Department of Pharmaceuticals and Mr. Jivesh Kr. Tiwari, ld. Counsel appearing for the UOI. On behalf of the GNCTD, Mr. Raj Kumar, Special Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, GNCTD along with Mr. Gautam Narayan, ld. ASC and Mr. Anuj Aggarwal, ld. ASC have attended the hearing.

6. Insofar as the allocation of Remdesivir is concerned, for the State of Delhi, the information given to the Court is that for the period of 21st April, 2021 to 30th April, 2021, out of the total available Remdesivir vials of 16 lakhs, 72,000 vials were allocated. There are a total of seven manufacturers. None is located in Delhi. As per the information given by the Union of India, the total supply made to Delhi was 52,348 vials, as on 28th April, 2021. It is submitted that despite Delhi having 3.77% of the total amount of caseload of Covid-19 patients, only 4.5% of the available vials were allocated to Delhi. However, it is expected that in the next allocation, the number of vials allocated to Delhi would increase considerably.

7. Mr. Raj Kumar, Special Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, GNCTD, however, submits that the number of vials that the GNCTD procured were only 2,500 vials and the remaining vials have been distributed through private channels, directly to patients or to hospitals. He concedes that till yesterday, the total supply was