That pill you are popping right now may be needless

When Vipin Mohta, 12, came down with fever and a mild cold last week, his physician wrote a prescription for amoxicillin and cough syrup.

Retired banker Raghuram Rao, 78, regularly consumes quiniodochlor, a drug for diarrhoea. That India is a pill-popping nation is well known. But what comes as a shock is that irrational consumption accounts for nearly half the medicines sold in the over Rs33,000-crore domestic drug market.

According to data collated in surveys for over 15 years by the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD), 50% medicines consumed are either not necessary, taken incorrectly, taken for wrong periods of time, or taken with wrong dosages.

In Mohta’s case, healthcare experts say a simple remedy like paracetamol, combined with adequate rest, could have proved effective. Amoxicillin is given for severe bacterial infections. Also, the grandma’s remedy of gargling with salt water or ingesting a concoction of tulsi and ginger is better than the cough syrup, they say.

Quiniodochlor is banned worldwide (but sold over the counter in India) as it could damage eyesight. Says Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, former president of DSPRUD, “Even the World Health Organisation says 50% medicines are consumed without need. Cough syrups, anti-depressants, antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used irrationally.”

According to Khusrav Bajan, head of department, internal medicine, PD Hinduja Hospital, painkillers (analgesics), vitamins, and anti-allergy drugs are frequently used irrationally.

Experts say even when equally good but cheaper variants are available, patients take expensive drugs.

Says S Srinivasan, managing trustee of Locost, an NGO that makes essential drugs cheaper, “Patients think a costlier drug is better. Often, doctors prescribe brand-name drugs, which are more expensive, compared to generic drugs.”

Data by business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan indicates that nearly all Indians pay for healthcare from their own pockets. Only 8% of Indians have health insurance/reimbursement coverage. “When most have to pay from their pockets, it is far more feasible to use drugs judiciously and save on unwanted expenses,” says Chaudhury.

“People also believe that every ill needs a pill and drugmakers, at times, exploit this belief,” says Locost’s Srinivasan.