DOH to investigate alleged overstocking of medicine

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has ordered an investigation on the alleged overstocking of P18.4 billion worth of drugs and medicines that are expiring at the Department of Health (DOH).

Duque said they already tapped the Legal Service Office of the DOH to investigate if there was corruption in the oversupply of medicines, as reported by the Commission on Audit (COA).

“This is now the subject of an investigation. I already asked the legal to check,” Duque told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News late Monday.

Based on COA’s Audit Observation Memorandum, there was overstocking of drugs and medicines since 2015, amounting to P18.4 billion. The supplies were stored in the warehouses of the DOH as of Dec. 31, 2018 when the memorandum was issued.

The report showed that some of the medicines are expiring this year.

Of this amount, only around P350 million or two percent of the stocks are expiring this year, Duque said. 

“It is wrong, it is illegal for the DOH to give expired medicines… from January 2019 up to today, and until the end of this year, distribution continues,” he said.

Duque gave assurance the medicines would be distributed before they expire. He cited the micronutrient power sachet, which are up for pick up by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Duque added they have initiated reforms in the procurement and supply chain to prevent overstocking of medicines.

The overstocking was uncovered when some program managers requested for medicines stored in the warehouse and undelivered.

“We instructed our legal (department) under Assistant Secretary Charade Grande to investigate and pinpoint accountabilities whether from the program managers and all the way up, why this happened,” he said.