The long fight for generic prescription

KOCHI: The threat posed by fascism to the polity is one of the most discussed subjects all over the country.   But the stories of governance failure impacting the day-to-day life of ordinary people in the country seldom finds a place in such discussions. A closer look at the  governance failures  will make one  understand how the fascist mindset is created by political charlatans posing as supermen offering instant solutions to every problem. The torturous journey of the implementation of the professional conduct and etiquette and ethics regulations proclaimed by the Medical Council of India -- making it mandatory for doctors to write generic names of medicine instead of brand names -- is an instance  of governance failure. The struggle for implementation of the regulation has inched forward after more than a decade with the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils  making it mandatory for doctors to write prescriptions in generic names instead of  brand names.

According to  Mr N.S. Alexander, RTI activist and former deputy drug controller, prescription in generic names can bring down medical cost substantially in the state, having the distinction of consuming the maximum quantity of modern medicines.   “I feel that in case of some medicines,  the price may come down by nearly 90 percent,”  he said. He  has been pursuing the matter for more than a decade as the Medical Council of India brought in its regulations in 2002. One of the Assembly committees headed by  Mr Kutty Ahammad Kutty when Mr V.S. Achuthanandan was the chief minister recommended  doctors making generic prescription. The same has been repeated by the Assembly committee headed by Mr T.N. Prathapan during the tenure of Mr Oommen Chandy as the CM. The medicine lobby, however,  prevented the implementation of the recommendations of the two committee reports all these years.

“There has been a systematic attempt not to implement the order by the medicine lobby. Unfortunately, the government establishment in the state has not taken any proactive measures to overrule the lobbying by the medicine lobby,”  he said.   In no other country,   doctors are allowed to write prescription in brand names, he said  and added that only in India such an obnoxious system has been allowed to prevail.          Even the present order of the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils has not been widely circulated amongst the larger public,  he  pointed out. In a state like Kerala with its high penetration of modern medicine,  the order of the council has huge public importance. Still there has been no effort to disseminate the information widely across the state. The order of the councils in this regard says that the same would be published in their websites.

“Imagine how many people in the state visit the website of the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils. There was no mention about the same being conveyed to professional bodies such as Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA),  Kerala Medical College Teachers Association or the health department of the government,”  he said. Mr Alexander  also dismissed the argument that the quality of generic medicines is  inferior compared to  the branded ones.  “It is a fact that many of the multinational companies have engaged in contract manufacturing with private companies in the country. If the quality is susceptible then it is a matter for the regulatory agency concerned to take the remedial measure,”  he added. The World Health Organization has also endorsed the quality of the generic medicines, he added.