The government of Haryana has banned medical representatives from campaigning for branded drugs in the government health and medical institutions of the state. The move is to totally discourage the prescription of branded drugs in government hospitals and medical establishments. The government has also issued orders to the doctors attached to government hospitals to stop prescribing branded medicines and stick on to 'generic' ones.

The government decision will prevent all kinds of brand promotional activities in 3092 medical/public health establishments in the government sector across the state.

While there are 2754 medical /public health establishments in rural Haryana, the number comes to 338 in its urban centers. This includes a total of 78 government hospitals in various parts of the state.

According to Raj Kumar, Secretary Health, Government of Haryana, the decision is to have a positive effect on the overall health situation in the state. "The cost of medication would come down drastically with this change. We want the private hospitals also to follow suit but are hesitant to issue any orders in the absence of any supportive law," he said.

The decision to keep medical representatives away from government hospitals was a logical step to ensure that the doctors are prescribing generic medicines, he added.

If the government sticks to its guns, the branded drug sale in the state is likely to be affected in near future, it is feared.

In a related attempt at reducing the price of drugs, the government has made the drug trade community agree for a compromise on the profit margins on drugs. The drug community has been asked to sell the drugs at a "recommended sales price" which is lower than the "maximum retail price". As pharmabiz had reported earlier, the drug traders, under the leadership of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) had given a 'verbal' assurance to keep their promise.

The Haryana government has been fighting against the "high profit margins" enjoyed by the retail trade for months now. They had attempted to tax drugs based on its MRP value to discourage manufacturers from printing high MRP on the medicines. Recently, they made an attempt to have a state level system of calculating the profit margins enjoyed by the trade and have a control on it.

Though the government had to withdraw from its plans to have such price monitoring in place due to the absence of adequate laws, it has struck again with the decision to pressurize the doctors under its control to go for generic prescriptions.