The health department in Kerala has strengthened the operations of the store verification teams working under the district medical officers in order to find out whether the medical practitioners are complying with the directions of the department to write the generic names of medicines in capital letters.

The department is expected to initiate punitive actions against medical practitioners who are not following the directions.

The move is based on certain complaints by some NGOs and pharmacists group that the doctors are not complying with the directions of the health department with regards to prescribing generic names of medicines and write them legibly in capital letters. The government has given orders to the medical practitioners to implement the direction of the Medical Council of India (MCI) issued in 2013.

Several NGOs working on health sector have complained to the government that the doctors are prescribing brand names of medicines of multinational companies and it brings financial burden to the poor patients. Besides, there is a deliberate attempt from some corners to prevent the growth of Karunya Community Pharmacies which are selling medicines on 20 to 90 per cent discounts. According to sources, government has decided to strengthen punitive actions against medical practitioners who are promoting the products of multinational companies.

Following the directions of MCI, some state governments in the country gave directions to the doctors to prescribe the generic names in capital letters. Telangana government was the first state issued the direction, followed by government of Kerala. However, the instruction has not been properly complied with by the doctors’ community in any state. Because of pressures, freebies and other incentives the doctors receive from pharmaceutical companies, they still write the brand names of the medicines of big companies.

Pharmacists have complained that indecipherable way of writing prescriptions often make them confused reading which in turn leads to dispensing errors and wrong delivery of medicines. Further, it causes harm to the patients. The pharmacists allege that some specialist doctors write only the first and last letters of the brand names of medicines. The pharmacists group complained to the government that there is an unholy relation existing between doctors and the manufacturing companies. The state government’s action has been hailed by various NGOs working in the health sector.

Sources from health department said it has given direction to the district medical officers to forward the raid report and action taken reports to the director of health services every week. The department has also decided to start more Karunya pharmacies to sell essential drugs, especially for cancer and lifestyle diseases, on very lower rates.