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90% city docs still prescibing generics

If doctors prescribe generics, paitents are at the mercy of the pharmacist as they can only pick from a range of available brands

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The Jan Aushadhi store in Ghatkopar.
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Sadin Mansuri, who is in his 20's walked into the Jan Aushadhi store in Ghatkopar that provides cheap generic drugs sourced from the government, with a prescription. "It is for my Aunt," he tells the store owner who gives him two options. The names of the generic medicines do not match the doctor's prescription and so Mansuri refuses to buy them. "They are cheap, yes, but how can I pick up a medicine which is not what my doctor prescribed?" he says walking away.

Trust and confusion about generics reign supreme. The Medical Council of India (MCI) last year asked doctors to prescribe medicines using generic names and write prescriptions legibly. So paracetamol is known as crocin when manufactured by one company but something else when manufactured by other generic brands. "There is no difference between the safety and efficacy of the medicines — whether they are generics or branded," said Dr Shaktivel Selvaraj, senior public health specialist and an expert in generic medicines.

"We frequently test samples for their chemical composition. There is no truth to the perception that generic drugs are not effective," said Dr Harshdeep Kamble, commissioner, Maharashtra FDA.

Generic medicines came into focus recently when PM Narendra Modi highlighted the need for a legislation that would control the market. Currently, over 75 per cent of Indian patients approach the private sector. MCI on its part says that its guidelines were misunderstood. "We only said that generic medicines must be 'preferably' used. The ministry deleted that word and we are facing flak for it," said Dr Ajay Kumar, Chairman and Administration, MCI.

Another view that Kamble refutes is, "Instances of spurious drugs being found are stray and not significant enough to be of public concern at all." However, while all government doctors have been largely following the diktat, over 95 per cent of private doctors do not do so say city chemists. "I have seen not seen even one prescription written using generic names," said Mohd Rafique who works at the Narendra pharmaceutical at Worli Naka.

There are other issues too that revolve around this. If doctors write prescriptions using generic names, the patient would then begin to be at the mercy of the pharmacist who will have the option to pick from a range of 3-4 generic drugs and over 10 branded drugs that exist for each formulation. The government is pushing for more stores like Jan Aushadhi and Amrit to provide cheap drugs to patients but not many are aware about it.

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