IMA opposes NMC fiat to docs to only prescribe generics

New Delhi: Indian Medical Association (IMA) has criticised the National Medical Commission's advice to doctors to prescribe only generic drugs, saying this step should be deferred till the government can assure the quality of all drugs released in the market. "Patient care and safety are not negotiable," the association said in a statement.

The NMC, in its "regulations relating to professional conduct of registered medical practitioners", stated that all doctors should prescribe only generic drugs. It also asked doctors to avoid prescribing branded generic drugs.

Rather than taking the NMC route the government should take the pharma route and ban all branded drugs, the IMA said, adding the government allows several categories such as branded and branded generic and permits pharmaceutical companies to sell the same product at different prices. "Such loopholes in law should be plugged," the doctors' body said.

If doctors are not allowed to prescribe branded drugs, then why should such drugs be licensed at all, given that modern medicines can be dispensed only on prescription of doctors of this system, the IMA asked. "The government, if serious about implementing generic drugs, should give licence only to generics and not to any branded drugs while ensuring quality of generic drugs," it said.

"Making quality brands available in the market but disallowing doctors who are responsible for patients' health from prescribing them seems dubious," the IMA said.