Bihar government has reiterated a Medical Council of India directive on generic drugs, but there are many sides of the story
Years ago actor Aamir Khan set the cat among the pigeons when he raised the issue in his reality show Satyamev Jayate. The question of whether generic drugs are the way forward, has been re-ignited by an order of the Bihar health department earlier this month that asked doctors of the state government-run hospitals, to prescribe generic medicines.
The order came into effect the very next day. It is admittedly not new; Medical Council of India requires every doctor to write prescriptions only with generic rather than brand names. PM Modi too talked about making it mandatory through a law for doctors to prescribe only with generic names in April 2017.
The jury though is still out on generic drugs.
Dr. Neelam Mohan, Director – Paediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Institute of Digestive and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Medanta said, “Personally, when I use a generic drug, I prefer the ones manufactured by a company which follows Good Laboratory Practice and Good Manufacturing Practice regulations. The government’s decision to ask doctors to prescribe a generic name has made things complicated. I don’t know where it was manufactured and whether good manufacturing regulations were strictly followed! We need a lot more clarity about manufacturing guidelines before it’s tools out completely.”
According to a The Lancet study, more Indians die due to poor quality of healthcare (1.6 million people out of 2.4 million deaths in 2016) than of lack of access to it. “Branded generics manufactured by research-based companies are backed by high-quality standards, reliable and sophisticated supply chain infrastructure, and clinical science and innovation. Everyone deserves to be benefited by the value branded generics bring in the form of assured quality standards, proven safety and efficacy, better absorption, and reduced side-effects. Generating awareness around the value of branded generics and differences between branded and unbranded versions is the key to aid patients in taking informed decisions and reinstall the trust in the overall Indian healthcare system,” said Amir Ullah Khan, Economist and Director of research at Aequitas.
The absence of an international standard drug regulatory mechanism deters Indian doctors from trusting most generic drugs. The doctor prescribes a drug label keeping in mind the level of efficacy assured.
“When it comes to healthcare, it is not a battle between expensive brands and cheaper generics, but a movement for quality and safety of medication for consumers without compromising on the expected outcomes and the Standard Treatment Guidelines. Even as health policy circles frequently blame branded drugs for raising healthcare costs, the argument lacks substance. In fact, branded generics were introduced as a premise to make simple and complex drugs available at affordable prices,” said Bejon Kumar Misra, founder of Patient Safety and Access Initiative of India Foundation.
