Former Minister of Health Dr. George Norton has jumped to the defence of his successor Volda Lawrence admitting that up to when he left office in early January this year there was a shortage of drugs and he could see the need for the recent $605M emergency supply procured.
“I know I had said that there was not a shortage of drugs but I had to go back and say that I said that because of the information that was fed to me by MOH (Ministry of Health) staff,” Norton told Stabroek News yesterday.
“I can see why she (Lawrence) would say there is a shortage because there is a shortage, everybody knows that…I had even gone to Cabinet and said I think they were lying to me because MMU (Materials Management Unit) said something different,” he added.
It was the first time Norton has publicly admitted that there was a shortage of drugs during his tenure as Minister of Health.
He however distanced himself from $605M contract to ANSA McAl and varying amounts to three other entities, saying that the process had not started while he was the Health Minister. The purchase of the emergency supplies did not comply with the provisions of the Procurement Act and this will pose a major problem for the Granger administration which placed a high priority on transparent and lawful procurement. To date, neither Lawrence nor the Public Procurement Com-mission has explained under what provisions of the Act the purchase was made.
The former Minister of Health yesterday said that he preferred to not share his views on if he felt that the $605M as was requested by the minister was too huge an amount for an emergency for the George-town Public Hospital since many of the drugs were common medications.
Norton would only say that ANSA McAl sells brand named pharmaceuticals and as such the costs would be higher than those bringing in the generic equivalent.
“When you are talking about ANSA McAl they sell brand name drugs so that will definitely cost more money,” he stated.
Lawrence has come under fire for “fast-tracking” the $605M drug purchase from ANSA McAL and others without the knowledge of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and without compliance with procurement rules.
She also has not stated if Cabinet was aware of the contract before the matter was highlighted in the press.
On Saturday, she defended her decision, while saying that there was a critical drug shortage, which she blamed on a conspiracy between contractors and ministry staff.She said that the public procurement process was not breached. However, the national tender board was not aware of the decision until its approval was sought after the transaction. The minister informed also that three other companies received contracts at the same time as ANSA.
No explanation was provided for why approval from the NPTAB was only sought after the fact rather than have it manage the process, in keeping with its statutory responsibility.
Chairman of the NPTAB, Berkley Wickham told Stabroek News last Thursday that he had not seen the contract or approved the sum and when a letter came to him to approve $605M for ANSA McAL he immediately notified the minister.
Fixed
Former Chairman of the GPHC Board Dr Carl Max Hanoman this week said that there has been a longstanding shortage of drugs at the GPHC that was created by suppliers in collusion with persons at the hospital who “fixed” the transactions. He said with the reported shortages, certain companies would be called in to supply emergency items.
Hanoman told Stabroek News that it was here the system gets manipulated because the companies usually mark up their prices. “I said there was a shortage and Norton said there was not. I said not only shortages there was terrible mismanagement; he did not like it. He wanted you to say what he wanted you to say but not me. The stuff is purchased through line items not tender…they all know what it is…it is a racket. Ask about the kidney fluids, for the dialysis and how much they paid for it. That is why the tenders were not passed when I was there. It is a racket. The whole hospital is a racket and they are bleeding the nation,” a distressed Hanoman stated.
But while Norton too says that there seems to be manipulation of the procurement system he informed that that was why he had made certain changes which included lobbying for the MOH to have its own bond.
He was referring to the controversial Sussex Street Bond which is owned by businessman Larry Singh. That bond was rented for $12.5M per month and while government had said that there would be a committee that would oversee the contract with the aim of lowering the rent, the full amount was budgeted for this year with no move to lower it.
“I did not know that the bond would have turned the Norton Bond but when we asked for that bond was because cold storage was needed and a place to have drugs all the time so you don’t have to be getting emergency supplies because of shortages” he said. It is unclear why this cold storage facility wasn’t used for the GPHC’s drugs instead of having ANSA McAl donate such facilities.
The opposition People’s Progressive Party has also questioned the huge contract amount saying that a smaller portion could have been used for the emergency while a public tender was pursued for the remainder of the drugs.
Lawrence has not said why the $605M contract was awarded for emergency drugs that includes over $35M in eye drops and ointments, $20M plus in creams, ointments and lotions and $6M in suppositories and pessaries. The list also includes the purchase of 1.8M paracetamol tablets and 270,000 Ibupoferen tablets pegged at a total of $8.2M.
