Empty shelves at Karunya outlets: Rs 82 crore unpaid dues cripple life-saving drug supply

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Patients across Kerala relying on Karunya Community Pharmacies for life-saving medication are facing a critical shortage as pharmaceutical companies have halted supplies due to unpaid dues totaling Rs 82 crore.

The Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSC), which is responsible for procurement, has failed to settle payments within the contractually mandated 90-day window, leading suppliers to stop deliveries. Industry records indicate that Sun Pharma alone should be paid Rs 12 crore in arrears.

The shortage has severely affected the availability of essential treatments for cardiology, cancer, and lifestyle diseases, as well as post-organ transplant medications. Patients are currently unable to access critical drugs including Caspocon for fungal infections, cancer medications such as Lenalid, Paclitaxel, Letronat, Lenwat, and Versavo, and thyroid medication Thyrox. Lifestyle drugs such as Silacar and Clopilet, along with ICU-related antibiotics, are also unavailable.

Even at the Karunya pharmacy attached to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, which typically maintains better stock levels, essential medicines are scarce. Patients requiring immunosuppressants for organ transplants, such as MMF and Tacrocod, are struggling to find stock. Notably, Pangraf—a drug that transplant patients must take consistently—has been unavailable for over a month.

The crisis extends to the Malabar region, where pharmacies are reporting a shortage of even basic medications, including insulin. With essential stocks depleted across the state’s 60 Karunya outlets, patients are now being forced to purchase their required medications from private pharmacies, often at significantly higher market prices.

Karunya Community Pharmacies were established with the objective of providing branded medicines to the public at a 50 percent discount. As the supply chain remains disrupted by the KMSC’s outstanding debts, those most dependent on these concessions are bearing the brunt of the financial impasse.