Don’t prescribe unnecessary tests, ICMR D-G tells docs

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is working on measures to check unwarranted over-the-counter (OTC) diagnostic tests in the country, said Dr Balram

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is working on measures to check unwarranted over-the-counter (OTC) diagnostic tests in the country, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general of the council, on Friday.

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“Screening for only cervical cancer, breast cancer and oral cancer has proved to bring down mortality. Other OTC tests are casual. Tests should only be done after a good clinical examination and good communication by a doctor,” said Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general ICMR, who delivered the keynote address at KGMU’s convocation on Friday.

“We are working towards checking unwarranted tests and will discuss the issue with UP government’s medical education ministry also,” said Bhargava, who is also the secretary to the department of health research.

He said just as OTC drugs, which people buy without a prescription or doctors’ consultation, OTC diagnostic tests have also cropped up. “They are not useful unless prescribed by a doctor,” he said.

Bhargava asked students, who got their degrees, not to prescribe unnecessary tests.

The US, he said, has 60% drugs from India that exports generic drugs to many countries and its doctors are serving people across the globe. “One in five doctors abroad is of India origin,” he said.

“The ayushman scheme has covered families for healthcare and we are working how best possible health care can be provided to people within budget. Apart from developing emergency medicine in India, we also need to ensure that people can afford those services,” he said.

Medical education minister Suresh Khanna, KGMU V-C MLB Bhatt, dean (paramedical), KGMU, Vinod Jain, dean (medicine) Vinita Das, and controller of examination AK Singh were present on the occasion along with faculty members.