Avoiding misuse of empty Amphotericin vials

Govt. hospitals are removing labels from vials of the anti-fungal drug or destroying them altogether post use

In view of possible misuse of empty Liposomal Amphotericin-B injection vials, government hospitals in the State are peeling off the labels from the containers or destroying them after use. A similar strategy had been followed by hospitals before discarding vials of Remdesivir, considered a key drug in COVID-19 treatment, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Earlier, the medicines vials were discarded as part of biomedical waste with the labels intact. Hospitals began to peel off labels from Remdesivir following reports of fraudsters filling saline or distilled water in the empty vials and selling them to desperate attendants of COVID-19 patients. Mucormyocsis patients are admitted at Government ENT Hospital and Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital. And patients with fungal infection who are COVID-positive are admitted to Gandhi Hospital. A few government medical colleges in other districts are also treating patients with the fungal infection.