Nagpur: Acting on a media report about an acute shortage of psychiatric medicines, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court recently expanded the scope of a suo motu public interest litigation to examine broader infrastructure and facility gaps at the Regional Mental Hospital.A division bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Raj Wakode termed uninterrupted access to medicines for mentally ill patients a “basic and non-negotiable requirement” and cautioned that such lapses “cannot be taken lightly”. The court then asked that a PIL be formally registered and appointed Isha Deepak Thakare as amicus curiae.On Feb 11, after Thakare’s visit to the hospital, the bench recorded that “various serious issues about the infrastructure and facilities” were noticed. “We thus, expand the scope of this petition and will consider other issues in addition to the issue in respect of non-availability of medicines,” the court said while issuing notice to the respondents, including Maharashtra govt, returnable on Feb 25. Additional govt pleader Deepak Thakare accepted the notices for all respondents.The proceedings stem from a media report published on Jan 20, which reported prolonged non-availability of key psychiatric drugs. At the time, only 10 types of medicines were said to be in stock, while several essential drugs remained unavailable for nearly 1.5 years. Relatives of patients urged doctors to prescribe medicines from outside, but doctors “were unable to do so”, the report said.The hospital handles around 300 outpatient registrations daily and houses more than 500 inpatients, including about 280 men and 250 women. The report also highlighted safety concerns for staff in the absence of medication and recalled a 2016 PIL that alleged staff vacancies, medicine shortages, lack of winter clothing and drinking water, alongside a calling attention motion in the assembly over 21 patient deaths linked to alleged negligence.A similar PIL in 2016 flagged pitiable conditions at the hospital, alleging staff vacancies, medicine shortages, lack of woollen clothing in winters, and scarcity of drinking water. The matter was also raised in the Maharashtra Assembly in Dec 2016 through a calling attention motion by former MLAs, who expressed concern over 21 patient deaths allegedly linked to negligence.
