On Saturday, actor Sonu Sood courted controversy after he promised to arrange the indigenous anti-COVID oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) for a patient, which is scheduled for commercial launch in mid-June.
A Twitter user by the name of Pranjal Shukla took to Twitter on Friday to seek help for her Coronavirus infected brother. She tweeted, “My brother is infected with Covid-19 with 100% lungs involvement and is on oxygen support for last 18 days. We have been trying to arrange the 2-DG drug for the past 4 days. Sonu Sood sir, you are our last hope. Please help us to arrange the drug.”
On Saturday, Sonu Sood took notice of the tweet and informed that her tweet will not go in vain. “Your last hope won’t let you down. Will be done,” he emphasised. While there was nothing unusual about the actor’s promptness, but his assurance to get her the 2-DG drug raised several questions.
The indigenous anti-COVID oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) is developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is being considered a game-changer in India’s fight against Covid-19. Since 2-DG is a generic molecule and analogue of glucose it can be easily manufactured in India and made available in plenty to the citizens. The drug is expected to help hospitalised Covid-19 patients and reduce their supplemental oxygen dependence.
Interestingly, the first batch of the drug was launched on May 17 for limited use in AIIMS, Armed Forces Hospitals, DRDO hospitals. As per a report in the Hindu Bussinessline, the 2D drug will be available for commercial launch and supply to major government and private hospitals from mid-June onwards. “While the product has already been soft-launched a couple of weeks ago, the commercial launch and supply of 2DG to major government and private hospitals is expected to commence in mid-June, according to Dr Reddy’s,” the report emphasised.
Given that drug is set to be launched for commercial supply in mid-June, netizens questioned how the actor has vowed to arrange for the oral Covid-19 medicine. And it is not the first time when the actor has been under the scanner for making frivolous claims.
Sonu Sood under scanner over frivolous claims of arranging plasma, hospital beds
Earlier, the Bollywood actor had claimed to have arranged plasma for a patient named Reena Solanki. But, soon the Twitter user (@Umey_Abishek) who had initially sought aid from the actor informed that he had not received any such help. When OpIndia reached out to him, we were told that he patient arranged plasma on his own.In another case, Sonu Sood claimed to have arranged a hospital bed for a patient who had succumbed to Coronavirus infection. However, the patient’s caretaker confirmed that no bed was made available by the actor.
After multiple media reports and social media posts on how Sonu Sood was helping out migrants go back home last year amid the nationwide lockdown, Sood had written an autobiography, ‘I am no messiah’.