Patiala, May 18 -- The Punjab government's plan to monitor outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) clinics through a digital portal has run into a technical snag even before its official launch. After detecting multiple instances of pilferage of buprenorphine tablets - a drug used in the treatment of addicts - the state government had installed biometric machines and web-cameras for face recognition at all government and private OOATs last month. It was to be operated through a portal for which the OOAT employees were trained. "But due to a technical glitch in the portal, we are not able to use it," said an employee of an OOAT centre in Patiala. Over the past few years, drugs worth crores have either gone missing or been illegally sold from OOAT centres and private de-addiction centres. In April this year, a Chandigarh-based doctor, who ran as many as 22 private de-addiction centres across 16 districts in Punjab, was arrested for the illegal sale of over 31,000 narcotic tablets, including buprenorphine, meant for rehab patients. In some instances, officials said, cases of impersonation and fake entries meant to siphon off drugs were observed. The new portal, Drug De-addiction Registry Portal, is expected to help curb such practices. The centralised database will also have medical histories of patients registered at OOAT clinics and private centres. A senior health official said, "There is some technical issue in the portal, which is being handled by experts at National Informatics Centre, Punjab. I am hopeful that the system will be launched within 7 to 10 days."...