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NMC decision to stall mandatory generic drugs prescription unjust: Health activists
Health activists have opposed the decision of National Medical Commission to stall its directive requiring doctors to prescribe only generic medicines to patients
PUNE: The National Medical Commission’s (NMC’s) decision to stall its directive requiring doctors to prescribe only generic medicines to patients has led to unrest among health activists. According to health activists of the Jan Arogya Abhiyaan (JAA) – a cluster of NGOs spread across Maharashtra working in the field of healthcare – the NMC’s decision is not in the interests of the public and should be reconsidered.
The NMC’s Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) gazette notification issued on August 2 instructed all doctors to prescribe generic drugs failing which they could be penalised, sometimes to the extent of having their license to practise suspended for a period of time. Later, the NMC put its directive on hold with immediate effect as of August 21. While this was appreciated by the medical fraternity, there was opposition from health activists who demanded that the decision be reconsidered.
As per the JAA’s official statement released on Monday, “The decision to stall the prescription of mandatory generic medicines should be reconsidered. Also, steps should be taken without delay to make sure that citizens get quality medicines at affordable rates. The doctors should also be given permission to write the names of companies while prescribing drugs to check the credibility of the pharma companies.”
Health activist Dr Anant Phadke said that changes should be made in the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that good quality drugs are manufactured. “Inspection visits at the manufacturing units of pharma companies, storage and transport of drugs during the transition and at chemist shops should be carried out to improve the quality of drugs available in the market. As per the two National Drug Surveys conducted in the past 10 years, ‘Not of Standard Quality’ or NSQ drugs were found in 4.5% and 3.4% of the drugs. This can be overcome by making changes in the functioning of the FDA,” he said.
Health activist Dr Arun Gadre said that many medicines sold at maximum retail price (MRP) to patients have more than 50% profit margins. The government should come up with regulations to make sure that the purchase price and selling price of the medicines do not have more than a 50% margin. “The number of generic medicine stores should be increased along with the supply of generic drugs. The government only has control on the pricing of 15 to 20% of medicines and the price of drugs should be based on the production cost,” he said.
