Three out of four doctors oppose prescribing generic medicines, reveals survey

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his support for a law that mandates doctors to prescribe medicines with their generic names instead of brands.

However, not everyone from the medical fraternity is happy about the proposed law.

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A survey done by Curofy, the social networking app for doctors, 73% doctors from across India have opposed the decision, citing that they are concerned about patient’s health because of the quality of drugs available.

Doctors who oppose the decision say that it seems to be made in a hurry and lacks a well thought-out plan. They think that the government should not overlook the quality of generic medicines and the qualification of the person who sells these medicines at retail pharmacies.

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The government wants doctors to write generic names on their prescriptions because unbranded generic medicines come at relatively cheaper prices than their highly-promoted branded counterparts.

"Generic medicines are excellent low-cost options, provided pharmacological properties of these medicines are standard and quality-controlled, and 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. If low quality generics are use in a widespread manner; drug resistance (antibiotics), inability to control diseases (diabetes, hypertension), and worsening of many diseases may occur," Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman of Delhi-based Fortis C-DOC (Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology) told TOI.

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Mudit Vijayvergiya, co-founder of Curofy said, "Doctors are concerned about prescribing generic medicines and rightly so. It will give power to chemists and pharmacists and might deteriorate the already deficient trust between doctors and patients."