Policy shift on generic drugs

What is the issue?

• Earlier government made a decision that all doctors will have to prescribe medicines using their generic or chemical names.
• Now there is a policy shift that doctors cannot be banned from prescribing the brand names of the generic drugs.

What are generic drugs?

• A brand-name drug product is originally discovered and developed by a pharmaceutical company.
• It is estimated that bringing a new drug to market costs the innovator on average $802 million over a period of 10 to 15 years.
• So a patent allows the innovator to sell the branded drug exclusively in order to recoup money spent during development and to generate a profit.
• Generics are off-patent, less-expensive drugs that are chemically similar to an innovative drug.

What are the reasons for the shift?

• There is a contradiction in asking doctors to prescribe generics when the market is full of branded drugs.
• There is a lack of confidence in the quality of medicines being dispensed.
• Writing out all the key ingredients while prescribing even a simple medicine can be difficult.
• If the chemist does not understand the prescription, it creates more problems.
• Pharmacists in chemist shops will gain more power to decide which brand of generic drug is to be given to a patient.

How can the issues be addressed?

• Patients in developed countries get their medicines from a well-developed healthcare system and not the retail market.
• Investment in the drug regulatory and testing infrastructure to ensure that quality drugs.
• Companies are supported to meet GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) norms.
• Only then will consumers and doctors have confidence that a medicine picked up anywhere in the country is of a good quality.

Source: Business Line