— Min. Lawrence says she never approved purchase of emergency drugs

PUBLIC Health Minister Volda Lawrence has denied approving the purchase of some $605M worth of emergency drugs by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) when she appeared before the Public Procurement Commission, according to a reliable source.

Minister Lawrence appeared before the commission on Friday as an investigation continues into the controversial procurement of over $605M in critical drugs in short supply in March 2017 for GPHC.
ANSA McAl, the Trinidad and Tobago conglomerate, supplied the bulk of the drugs.
Ansa McAl was among four companies shortlisted, including New GPC, Health 2000 and ChirosynDiscovery from which these emergency supplies were procured.
According to a reliable source, the Public Health Minister told the commission headed by Carol Corbin that it was the then Chief Executive Officer (GPHC) Alan Johnson, who had issued the purchase, maintaining that she never granted any approval.
Minister Lawrence reportedly told the commission that about one month after taking up the public health portfolio, she met with GPHC’s senior management officials and the then CEO after receiving continuous complaints of a shortage of drugs at the country’s sole referral hospital.

Prior to that meeting in February, the GPHC management assured Lawrence that there was an adequate supply of drugs to cater for patients’ needs.
Following persistent public complaints, Lawrence again summoned another meeting with GPHC officials and it was then that the dreadful drug shortage was exposed.
“It was not until she called the second meeting that they admitted that there was a shortage,” the source told this newspaper.
“I was fed a bunch of lies and false information,” Lawrence reportedly told the commission, while expressing her disappointment in the former CEO.
Faced with the shortage of over 200 drugs and medical supplies, Minister Lawrence reportedly queried whether there was a system in place for the acquisition of drugs on an emergency basis and was told “yes.”
“She was told that there was a system in place to acquire drugs in cases of emergency. There was no such system to fast track the purchasing of drugs, they just came up with that plan,” the source told this newspaper.
She then advised the administration to utilise the necessary system they assured her was available to remedy the situation in the shortest possible time.
Lawrence would learn after the fact, that an emergency procurement document was sent to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and later withdrawn.

MOLE
A mole in the GPHC system was believed to be tampering with information to benefit one of the local drug-importing companies.
“All this was unknowing to the minister,” the source said, adding that “The situation had gotten really bad.”
To further compound the situation, the then CEO had reportedly written the Chairman Berkley Wickham of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, contending that approval had been granted by the Public Health Ministry for the procurement of the drugs to be fast tracked. Johnson reportedly advised Wickham to see an attached document which the minister had allegedly signed.
According to the source, Minister Lawrence said she “never signed any document.”
“A draft document from GPHC was prepared and sent to the minister to be signed but she said, she never signed it because of obvious concerns,” the source recalled.
Among the misinformation circulating about her alleged involvement in ordering the procurement of the critical items controversy, Lawrence informed the commission that she had never held discussions with any supplier concerning the procurement of the drugs.
When the story erupted in mid-March, Minister Lawrence in a press statement had said that the Public Health Ministry’s decision to fast track the procurement of critical drugs was necessary to safeguard the health of the nation.

“My priority is to ensure the nation’s health is given top priority. The health system will not be held hostage by unprincipled persons and therefore I made the decision to shortlist the critical but unavailable items and the suppliers with the ability to provide them on time to avert deepening the drug demand difficulties,” Minister Lawrence said in a statement.
On Sunday, it was explained that the normal procurement process would have taken between three to six months, and GPHC had said that the drugs were needed within two weeks.