The All Ceylon Nurses Union (ACNU) has warned that its members would desist from administering drugs to patients if standard certification was not provided. Spokesman for the Union said yesterday (03), the decision had been taken following the discovery of sub standard drugs and equipment being distributed in hospitals in the recent past.

The Health Ministry has claimed it had ordered the withdrawal of substandard drugs and equipment from government hospitals. However, even replacements had pieces of glass or crystallised substances. This has become a normal trend in the health sector, the spokesman said.

The situation however would affect the nursing staff which is directly involved in administering drugs to patients. It has created a dilemma for the nursing staff as the onus of giving a patient a substandard drug falls on his or her shoulders. The Ministry would be the first to blame the nursing officer. The patient’s relatives too would blame the nurses and take them to court.

There is no assurance to say that the nurses would not be blamed even if the drug administered is of an inferior quality. ACNU spokesman urged health officials to take an immediate decision regarding substandard drugs. A quality assurance should be given they demanded. Failing which the ACNU would refrain from giving out drugs to patients, he warned.