Strongly objecting to the move of the Kerala government and the state branch of the Medical Council of India to make a legal framework for generic prescription, the Qualified Private Medical Practitioners Association (QPMPA) has wanted the health secretary and the medical regulator not to insist on their advisories to doctors to compulsorily write the names of medicines in generic terms and in capital letters.
 
According to the association, prescribing in generic terms of all drugs will cause for self-medication and antibiotic resistance.
 
“When 77% of the available medicines in the country are under price control, insistence on prescription of all medicines in their pharmacological names is not desirable and it will adversely affect the health of the patients, especially with chronic diseases,” says the letter sent to the government by the doctors’ association.
 
Prof Dr C M Aboobaker, president of the association clarifies that if generic terms are used for all prescriptions, the quality of the medicines cannot be assured. Besides, according to him, the shelf-life of the drugs will be lower compared to the quality branded drugs. The generic names of all ingredients of a combination medicine or ointment or antibiotics are also unable to be written in every prescription. Above all, patients will tend to misuse antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs, and  the situation will cause for resistance of antibiotics in patients.
 
In a telephonic talk with Pharmabiz, he said the worst impact of the rule will be on the health of the patients who will normally incline to self-medication, over-the-counter purchase and finally not fully comply with full course of the medication. This will help increase irrational and unethical use of medication by the patients. All these factors will pave way for the medical shop owners to command over the medical field, leaving the doctors aside.
 
“The right to choose a drug or a product of a company will become the choice of the medical shop owners. Most of the medical sellers are with business mind, so they will normally purchase the cheapest drugs to make good profit. Such products may not be of good quality. They do not have any obligation with respect to treatment or curing the illness of the patients. After all, the medicine sellers are not bound by any ethical code,” said Dr Aboobaker.
 
He further said the rule will also affect the ‘professional secrecy’ of the medical practitioners. Usually, the doctors prescribe only the required quantity of antibiotics to a patient. One antibiotic can be used for several other ailments. Since the present generation is well educated, they are likely to misunderstand the treatment modules and bound for purchasing the same drug for all diseases. This will cause for resistance of antibiotics.
 
However, it seems that the attempt of the government and the medical council to enforce their circulars regarding generic prescription is utterly getting failed as there are very few takers for the same. When contacted, Dr Jayachandran, an ENT specialist at the government hospital at Adoor in Pathanamthitta district, said no doctor at the hospital is following the circular which they received several months ago.