The purchase of drugs, vaccines, medical equipment and the management of the crisis by the Ministry has been an open debate since the beginning of the pandemic. But last Friday, the biggest scandal was presented to the Parliament by the Opposition leader. The purchase of 999,000 tablets of Molnupiravir at Rs 70 more per unit from CPN Distributors Ltd. In a statement issued on Sunday 12 December, its director, Jay Kumar Chuttoo said that “the drug Molnupiravir was purchased at Rs 72 and sold at Rs 79.92, thus with a margin of 11%“.
A twist of fate! While the Health Ministry has already approved this purchase from CPN Distributors Ltd, the Financial Secretary of the Finance Ministry on Sunday 12 December has ordered the freezing of this payment of Rs 79,840,080 for Molcovir, a generic Molnupiravir produced by Optimus Pharma in India.
It is to be noted that the Ministry has already received this shipment and has even started its distribution to hospitals since Thursday 09 December as announced by the Prime Minister in his address to the nation. According to the documents, Mauritius Pharmacy would import 800,000 tablets of Molena 200mg, a generic of Molnupiravir produced by Emcure Pharmaceuticals in India, at a price of Rs 9, 30 each.
The Opposition Leader had termed this “Unsolicited Bid” by CPN Distributors Ltd as illegal under Section 5.3.C of the Public Procurement Amendment Regulations 2021 as approved by the Council of Ministers. Given that the company has no Track Record, XLD had then demanded an enquiry.
As requested by the PMO, the Senior Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health was asked to appear as a witness before the CCID in this investigation of fraud in medical emergency procedures.
Jay Kumar Chuttoo advocates for himself
The Director of CPN Distributors said he was “aware of the malicious allegations and insinuations made since Friday, following the supply of Molnupiravir to the Ministry of Health“. The second point he stated is that he “paid for 1 million capsules of Molnupiravir 200 mg at USD 1.65 per unit” and continues “that this represents Rs 72 per unit at wholesale and a resale price of Rs 79.92 per unit, i.e. a margin of 11%” …. There is therefore NO PRICE ABUSE of any kind contrary to the malicious allegations made against us… Moreover, we had initially imported these medicines for distribution through private pharmacies. The stock being available, we proposed it to the Ministry of Health in order to allow the services concerned to administer the medicine and save lives because there was a shortage on the market…” Below is the press release
