With Union health ministry's recent directive that physician should prescribe generic names in capital letters along with the brand names, Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) is also planning to issue a set of uniform guidelines for the physicians across Maharashtra while prescribing medicines.
An IMA official on conditions of anonymity while supporting the move said, prescribing generic medicines in capital letters will help remove the confusion in the patient's and chemist's mind as it will be clearly spelt out in the prescription. Besides this, prescribing branded medicines will help trace the batch number of a particular medicine in an event of an adverse drug reaction.
Physicians earlier had pinpointed certain practical difficulties like prescribing only generic names will give the chemist a free hand to dispense medicines of his own choice thus impacting patient safety.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also in the process of circulating a model prescription format towards rational prescription and use of drugs in accordance to The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation, 2002 under Indian Medical Council Act 1956 under Code of Medical Ethics at 1.5.
Aimed at stalling quackery and to help patients have more choice while buying medicines between a costlier brand and its generic version, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the first state drug regulatory body in the country to mandate and issue a model medicine prescription format for the patient safety at large.
The format was formally issued by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on February 28, 2014 in the presence of State FDA officials to address the compelling need for safe and efficacious supply of medicines for patient safety.
A model medicine prescription format is now in the process of being circulated to all the stakeholders including patients, physicians and doctors.
After long deliberations, a consensus based “Model Medicine Prescription Format” was designed for all the stake holders as a legal mandatory prescription format. Says a senior FDA official, "The format will bring about transparency and accountability and ensure implementation of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 effectively. The act mandates that a prescription format need to be adopted across the country. This will bring about very positive results and would go a long way in raising health status of people."
The format is comprehensive as it includes doctor's full name, his qualification, patient's details, name of the generic or its equivalent along with the dosage, strength, dosage form, dosage instruction, name and address of medical store with pharmacist's name and date of dispensing and doctor's signature and stamp.
A model prescription format committee was formed on July 24, 2013 under the chairmanship of Mahesh Zagade, former commissioner, FDA comprising office bearers from Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), Maharashtra Council of Indian Medicine (MCIM), Maharashtra Veterinary Council (MVC), Maharashtra Dental Council (MDC), Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Indian Medical Association (IMA), National Integrated Medical Association (Maharashtra Branch) and Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council (MSPC).
As per the FDA format, it is statutory requirement to mention name of the prescriber on cash or credit memo of the drugs under Rule 65(3) and authenticate prescription. Therefore, the prescription shall bear doctor’s full name as mentioned in her or his registration certificate. To know competency and genuineness of prescriber, the prescription shall bear doctor’s primary qualification such as MBBS or BAMS followed by subsequent qualifications. Prescription shall bear the registration number of doctor’s registration with their respective council. The registration number should be prefixed with letters indicating the council in which doctor has registered her or his name.
The FDA format also states that it is statutory requirement to mention the address of the prescriber on the cash or credit memo of the drugs under Rule 65 (3) and the patient and pharmacist should know where the prescriber is practicing and, therefore, prescription shall bear complete address of clinic or hospital where the prescriber is practicing. The prescription shall have telephone number and e-mail address of prescriber.
As per the Rule 65 (10) prescription shall be dated and prescription shall specify the name and address of the person for whose treatment it is given or name and address of the owner of the animal if the drug is meant for veterinary use.
Prescription shall invariably bear strength of the medicine. Eg. paracetamol tablets 500 mg., amoxycillin capsules 250 mg and shall also bear a proper dosage form of medicine prescribed. eg. tablets, capsules, syrups, creams etc.