A video is viral on social media in which vials of Remdesivir injection, considered to be a life-saving drug in severe coronavirus cases, are seen floating in Bhakra canal. The video is viral with a claim that vials of Remdesivir injection are intentionally being thrown in Punjab to create a shortage of the drug.
The video is being shared with a caption, "This is Criminal while patients struggle for essential medicines in Punjab ..thousands of vials of Injection Remdesivir are found dumped in the Bhakra canal. Who's responsible for this criminal act?".
Sambit Patra, BJP Spokesperson also shared the video with caption, "Respected CM Punjab, This is abhorring & Criminal While patients struggle for essential medicines in Punjab ..thousands of vials of Injection Remdesivir are found dumped in the Bhakra canal! Who's responsible for this criminal act Why's the Punjab Govt silent?".
Many other Twitter users also shared the video.
News 18 Hindi had also reported about the incident on May 7, 2021. According to News 18, Thousands of Remdesivir injection were found floating in a canal in Punjab.
The video was also widely shared on Facebook.
Claim:
The video is of Remdesivir injections thrown into the Bhakra canal to create a shortage of the drug in Punjab.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian found that the claim is misleading and false.
On closely observing the video, we noticed that the box of Remdesivir mentioned Covifor as the brand name, which is produced by Hetero Labs, a Hyderabad based pharmaceutical organisation. The original vial of Covifor has Rx mentioned on the top-left corner of the box, which is not present on the boxes present in the viral video. Also, there is a lack of alignment in the text inscribed on the label of the box.
On searching with the keyword, 'remdesivir in bhakra canal', we found a report by The Times of India published on May 6, 2021. According to the report, Ropar police confiscated around 3,000 injection vials, including 621 of Remdesivir, 1,456 of Cefoperazone and 849 unlabelled were found floating in the Bhakra canal near Morinda.
According to a report published by The Indian Express on May 7, 2021, over 600 vials of Remdesivir were recovered by the Ropar police. The vials were found floating in canal water. According to Ropar SSP Akhil Chaudhary, information of some vials of Remdesivir floating in Bankra canal near Morinda was received. SSP said, "A team headed by DSP Chamkaur Sahib was immediately sent to the spot at village Salempur along with drugs inspector and senior medical officer (SMO). Initially, around 300 Remdesivir and Cefoperazone vials were found from the canal." SSP further said that the initial investigation revealed that the vials were fake. He said, "On preliminary investigation, these vials are apparently fake as per the district Drug Control Officer (DCO). Till now nearly 1,200 vials have been recovered including 600 Remdesivir but it is still being probed that who dumped them in the canal."
The Tribune reported that Drug Control Officer Tejinder Singh has said prima facie the medicines were fake. The labels on vials did not match with those of the original vials of the same company.
On May 26, Delhi police DCP Crime Monika Bhardwaj had tweeted images to point out the difference between the original Remdesivir injections and the fake one.
Attention!!
— Monika Bhardwaj (@manabhardwaj) April 26, 2021
Lookout for these details before buying Remdesivir from the market. pic.twitter.com/A2a3qx5GcA
News 18 Hindi which had earlier reported that Remdesivir Injection was found in the canal, later updated the article. In the updated article, it mentioned that the Remdesivir injections found floating in the canal were fake.
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Also Read: Fact Check: Video Viral To Show Oxygen Is Being Wasted In Delhi To Create Artificial Shortage