Disciplinary Action will be taken against doctors if they don't prescribe generic medicines: Health Minister in Parliament
New Delhi: Every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and any violation of these rules may result in disciplinary action against the doctor by the appropriate State Medical Councils or the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the MoS Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar stated before the Parliament.
She further informed that with an aim to promote generic medicines at an affordable process to all, the more than 9600 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) have been set up covering all districts of the country.
Further, the Department of Pharmaceuticals /Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) is spreading awareness about the scheme through advertisements by electronic media, print media as well as through Outdoor publicity, stated the Union Minister of State for Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar.
The Minister stated this in Lok Sabha on Friday while responding to a question seeking response from the Minister about the fact that the doctors in Government hospitals are not prescribing generic medicines to the patients and the patients have to pay more for relatively expensive medicines in the country.
Apart from this, the MoS Health Dr. Pawar was also asked if the Government has issued any advisory/guidelines to the States/UTs to address the matter and if the Government proposed to advise the States/UTs to conduct a survey among Government hospitals to understand the reluctance to prescribe generic medicines to the patients.
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In response to these queries, the Minister referred to Clause 1.5 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2022 that prescribes that every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is rational prescription and use of drug.
Further, the erstwhile Medical Council of India(MCI) had issued Circulars dated 22.11.2012, 18.01.2013 and 21.04.2017 vide which all Registered Medical Practitioners have been directed to comply with the aforesaid provisions, stated the Minister.
Clarifying that disciplinary action may be taken against the doctors for not complying with these rules, the Minister said,
"The National Medical Commission Act, 2019, empowers the appropriate State Medical Councils or the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National Medical Commission to take disciplinary action against a doctor for violation of the provision of the aforesaid Regulations. When complaints are received against the violation of code of ethics for doctors, such complaints are referred by EMRB (previously by erstwhile MCI) to the concerned State Medical Councils where the doctors/medical practitioners are registered. States have been advised to ensure prescription of generic drugs and conduct regular prescription audits in public health facilities."
She also referred to the measures taken by the Government to promote generic medicine, and mentioned, "In order to promote generic medicines at affordable prices to all, more than 9600 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) have been set up covering all districts of the country. Department of Pharmaceuticals /Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) is spreading awareness about the scheme through advertisements by electronic media, print media as well as through Outdoor publicity."
"In addition, information about the benefits of Jan Aushadhi generic medicines and the scheme is disseminated through social media platforms. PMBI also maintains a mobile application namely Janaushadhi Sugam, a single window platform to assist users to locate nearby PMBJK, search Janaushadhi medicines, telephone numbers, etc. Further, Jan Aushadhi Diwas is celebrated every year on 7 March for further dissemination and spreading awareness about the Scheme," the Minister informed the Lok Sabha.
"Under National Health Mission (NHM), support is provided for provision of essential generic drugs free of cost in public health facilities. The support is not only for drugs but also for various components necessary for effective implementation of the Free Drug Service Initiative viz. strengthening/ setting up robust systems of procurement, quality assurance, IT backed supply chain management systems like Drugs and Vaccines Distribution Management Systems (DVDMS) developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), warehousing, prescription audit, grievance redressal, Information, Education and Communication (IEC), training," the Minister further added.
A generic drug has been defined by NMC as a "drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed product in dosage in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use".
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that recently the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued the draft Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2022, and clarified that doctors should prescribe medicines with "generic"/"non-proprietary"/"pharmacological" names only.
Section 8 of the Regulations Stated, "Prescribing Generic Medicine: Every RMP is expected to prescribe drugs using generic names written legibly and prescribe drugs rationally, avoiding unnecessary medications and irrational fixed-dose combination tablets. (L1, L2)."
Since the Apex Medical Body has recommended Level 1 (L1) and Level 2 (L2) disciplinary action for the violation of this rule of prescribing generic medicines, the doctors might get warnings and instructions or advisories that can be issued in this regard. However, if charged under Level 2 violation, their license can be suspended for up to one month, as specified in the Regulations.
Last year, during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, the Health Ministry was questioned on the issue of generic prescriptions and whether any action has been taken by the government In case of violations in such matters.
At that time, MoS Health Dr. Pawar had informed that the Government was aware of the fact that despite the Court orders and relevant regulations, most medical practitioners were not prescribing generic medicines.
"The government of India is aware that despite the orders of the Courts and the relevant regulations of the Medical Council of India, generic medicines are not being prescribed by most medical practitioners. In this regard, clause 1.5 of Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 prescribes that every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of the drug. Further, the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) had issued circulars where all the Registered Medical Practitioners have been directed to comply with the aforesaid provisions.," the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar had stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
