The poor and the hapless who are highly hooked into the public-owned hospitals for the medicines are getting to severely suffer because of the Druggist and Chemist Association of Mumbai is hellbent to not supply even one strip of drugs to the four Mumbai hospitals—JJ, Cama, GT and St Georges—till they settle their outstanding amounting to around Rs 60 crore. The seething dispute between around 40 Mumbai chemists and 4 public hospitals have steeped because the chemists have blacklisted hospitals.

The dispute might leave the ill-fated patients scrambling for a dose of drugs, considering the general public hospitals hang on on these chemists to get medicines and equipment that aren't available with their regular suppliers.

The chemists play a momentous role when the hospitals need medicines during an emergency and there's no time to float tenders. JJ Hospital was forced to prevent heart surgeries, in June last year, after vendors cut the supply of oxygenators and artificial valves following unpaid dues of Rs 3 crore. Things could worsen because the chemists reveal that the bill overdue has stretched almost four years and that they aren't willing to attend further. The chemists also resorted to commissioner Sanjay Barve a couple of days ago, requesting him to intervene.

Around 40 chemists who are supplying medicines to the four biggest public hospitals in Mumbai say many of them have had to mortgage their homes to stay running their businesses. The Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), which has jurisdiction over the hospitals’ administration, has conveyed to the chemists that it cannot help.

The reason being, the hospitals are allowed to use only 10% of their total allow purchasing medicines and equipment without issuing tenders. an equivalent was conveyed to the members of the chemists’ association on Tuesday once they met with Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, principal secretary, DMER.

Shrenik Gujjar, whose Dadar-based firm Mamta Trading Co has been a serious supplier to JJ, St George, Cama and GT and who is saying dues running into crores of rupees, said that it had been not the supplier’s job to see whether the orders fitted inside or outside the10% budget restriction.

Dipesh Shah, who runs Sheetal Pharma and Lifecare store right ahead of JJ Hospital, said that JJ owes him Rs 80 lakh, and St George Rs 1.5 crore.

Another chemist, Raj Gosar, who runs Shree Paras Medical Store in Byculla, said that they weren't told about the ten budget rule when approached for supplies.

Dr TP Lahane, the director of DMER, ruled out a speedy resolution to the mess. He said the vendors’ claims must be audited, and a committee to probe the dispute are going to be formed. Lahane insisted that there was no danger of the four hospitals suffering within the wake of the chemists stopping supplies.