Patiala, May 24 -- Rattled by disappearing buprenorphine tablets and ghost patient entries at Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics, the Punjab health department has launched a statewide physical verification drive and an online stock audit of the drug across all centres. Earlier this month, the department filed a police complaint against one of its employees in Kapurthala after detecting missing buprenorphine tablets. A few centres were also found disbursing medicines in the names of deceased patients. Officials suspect such fake entries were used to divert buprenorphine tablets outside the treatment programme, either through illegal sale or non-registered addicts. Buprenorphine tablets are used in opioid substitution therapy for treating drug dependence and is routinely distributed through over 542 OOAT clinics operating under the state's de-addiction programme. According to an official communication issued by the directorate of health and family welfare, Punjab, inter-district teams have been constituted to conduct inspections at OOAT clinics and verify physical stock against online records. The teams have been directed to examine stock availability and identify discrepancies through cross-verification. The inspection teams will review the physical and online records, prepare reports in a prescribed format and submit findings within seven days. Sources in the health department shared many health employees were found selling buprenorphine to drug addicts despite the fact that the medicine was meant to be provided free of cost, while in some cases, they were also distributed among non-registered addicts. A senior health officer told HT that multiple cases of discrepancies in disbursement of buprenorphine tablets had come to fore. "In one case, we found a difference of nearly 5,000 tablets in the physical record and online record. This is a major lapse. Therefore, we ordered a mass checking across the state," said the above quoted health official. Confirming the development, Dr Sandeep Bhola, assistant director-cum-programme officer, Mental Health, Punjab health department, said, "This exercise will help us verify and maintain records of buprenorphine tablets. This will also help us to identify any discrepancies, if any. We will conduct this exercise regularly." Welcoming the audit, Parminder Singh, state president of the De-addiction Employees' Union Punjab, said, "We hope this exercise will put an end to anomalies such as fake patient entries at some centres."...