Recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) decided to temporarily pause a contentious rule that required doctors to prescribe generic drugs to patients. Not following this rule could have led to penalties, including a temporary suspension of their medical licenses.
Why the Controversy?
The rule, known as the Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations of 2023, faced strong opposition from groups like the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA). They argued that it wasn’t practical due to concerns about the quality of generic drugs.
What Are Generic Drugs?
Generic drugs are essentially copies of brand-name medications. They’re designed to be identical in terms of dosage, safety, strength, how they’re taken, quality, and intended use. They’re usually less expensive than brand-name drugs.
India’s Role in Making Generic Drugs
India is a major player in the production of generic medicines. In fact, it manufactures about 20% of the world’s generic drugs, according to the government’s Economic Survey. However, there have been doubts about the quality of some Indian-made generic drugs, causing problems in various countries.
The main issue here is that generic drugs don’t go through the same rigorous quality and safety checks as new medications developed by major pharmaceutical companies.
The Ongoing Debate: Generic vs. Branded Drugs
In the ongoing debate about generic versus branded drugs, a doctor named Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips conducted a study. He looked at two commonly prescribed medicines: generic versions of Metformin for diabetes and Atorvastatin for high cholesterol. A patient had been taking these generics for four months without any improvement. But when they switched to the brand-name versions, they saw significant improvement within just one month.
To get a clear picture, both sets of medicines were sent to a reputable lab for quality testing. Dr. Philips personally covered the cost of this testing, which amounted to Rs 35,000.
Dr. Philips is now planning to focus on the quality of modern medicines. He’s even considering a “people-funded” project for the most extensive medicine quality testing initiative globally, involving contributions from the public if the findings are significant.
