The Union health ministry should make sure to work towards the swift implementation of prescription audit across the Indian healthcare sector.  This will prevent indiscriminate medicine usage and stall multi-drug resistance besides control medical expenditure, according to Dr BR Jagashetty, National Advisor, (Drugs Control), and Project in-charge for the implementation of two schemes of Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO).

With the Medical Council of India which has issued guidelines on standard prescription format, there is also a need for an audit of prescriptions . It would work in sync with the objective of achieving patient safety, he added.

Prescription audit will provide stringent supervision across hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. It would create an environment of transparency, effectiveness and accountability among the medical professionals in the country.

These days, advising several drugs for a simple health disorder is in vogue. For instance, a range of multi vitamin supplements are provided in a prescription. There are also names of ethically promoted nutraceuticals which are suggested along with anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, anti-pyretic medicines. The need for rationalisation of medicines is to be analysed. For lifestyle disorders, doctors seem to prescribe common nutritional supplements which are claimed to be for control of cholesterol and for diabetes. In many cases, such products are beyond the affordability ambit of the patients.

Yet another aspect of audit should be to study the diagnostics prescribed by medical specialists. Pathology tests along with x-rays, CT-MRI scans are advised at repeatedly for simple disorders and diseases which is a cause for suspicion among educated patients, stated Dr Jagashetty.

Drugs constitute a mere 15 per cent of medical costs but it is the diagnostic costs and consultation fees for every visit to the same doctor which constitute a major part of the medical cost.  There is no  control on the mushrooming of path labs and diagnostics centres. Therefore, government should immediately consider a prescription audit for the benefit of the patient population, Dr Jagashetty pointed out.

Although the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) could stall brand promotion by pharma companies to the medical community, there is need to scrutinise the  operations of the pathology and diagnostic labs which are all based on doctor’s prescription, more often, unnecessary drugs and diagnostic tests add to the patient costs, said Dr. Jagashetty.