Defer decision on Generic Drugs: IMA

Prescribing generic drugs without quality would be detrimental to patients, IMA members said.

Hyderabad: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) headquarters on Monday has urged the union Government to defer the implementation of National Medical Commission (NMC) regulation on generic drug and hold wider consultations on the vital topic with stakeholders before taking a final decision.

“The biggest impediment to generic drugs is the uncertainty about its quality, as there is practically no guarantee of the quality of such drugs. Less than 0.1 percent of the drugs that are manufactured in India are tested for quality. Prescribing generic drugs without quality would be detrimental to patients,” IMA members said.

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The decision on generic drugs should be deferred till the Government can assure the quality of all the drugs released into the market. Patient care and safety are not negotiable. “IMA demands a fool proof system of quality assurance before switching over to generic drugs. Only good quality drugs should be made available in the country and prices should be uniform and affordable. We urge Government to have ‘one drug, one quality, one price’ system whereby all brands should be either sold at the same price which should be controlled or banned and only generics allowed while ensuring highest quality of these drugs,” IMA said.

The present system will only put huge dilemma in the minds of practitioners and cause unnecessary blaming of medical profession by the society. The notification is an injustice to doctors who always hold the interest of their patients as non-negotiable, IMA added.