73 per cent of doctors oppose push for generic drugs: Study
MUMBAI, MAY 2017: Soon after the Prime Minister's push for a law mandating doctors to prescribe medicines with their generic names instead of brands, 73% doctors surveyed across the country have opposed the decision, citing concerns on quality of drugs available.
The survey, shared exclusively with TOI by Curofy, a social networking app for doctors, says the decision seems to lack a well thoughtout plan, and could "affect patient health". The survey adds, it would be important the government consider the quality of generics, and qualification of the decision-maker dispensing the drug at retail pharmacies.
The suggestion that doctors must write prescriptions in generic names (chemical name of the drug) rests on the premise that unbranded generic medicines are cheaper than their highly-promoted branded counterparts.
It was found across tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 cities that doctors uniformly expressed disagreement with the government's recommendation to prescribe generics.
Though doctors feel it's a good idea to provide cheap medicines, there is no standardisation of generic drugs. Healthcare practitioners also expressed concerns ranging from the quality of generics, and the education/qualification of the chemist who is being made the decision maker.
They feel the quality of medicines dispensed will then depend on pharmacist and what he wants to sell, without knowing its effect, which could "severely affect patients' health". Chemist empowerment could increase prices as they may sell brands with higher absolute margins, healthcare practitioners feel.
Dr Anoop Misra chairman of Delhi-based Fortis CDOC (Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology said, "Generic medicines are excellent low-cost options, provided pharmacological properties of these medicines are standard and quality-controlled, and that all good manufacturing practices are followed according to international norms. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many medicines (even branded) in India mostly due to lack of stringent quality control measures and absence of punitive actions for faulty manufacturing standards."