Hyderabad: Many hospitals insist that patients buy drugs only from their pharmacy. Out-patients, patients undergoing treatment in the hospital, and even patients who have been discharged, are told to buy drugs from the hospital pharmacy.
Post-surgery patients have to take several antibiotics and drugs to control infection, which has to be explained to them properly. For this reason, hospitals insist that patients buy the drugs from their own pharmacies so that the schedule of the drug can be explained and the quality of the drug is assured.
Chemists are against this practice. Ramesh Gupta, president of the Telangana Chemists Association, says that, for instance, oral chemotherapy drugs in the hospital pharmacies are priced 10 to 15 per cent higher than in the open market.
“But the doctors insist that it must be taken from the hospital pharmacy only. They prescribe only branded products, but there are generic drugs available in the market which the patient is not even aware of. The government has to work towards popularising generic drugs and also ensuring their availability,” he said.
Chemists’ associations agree that there must be proper supply schedules if cheaper generic drugs are to be accepted by the people.
