NMC fiat on generic drugs: Centre is talking to stakeholders says IMA chief

Vijayawada: Indian Medical Association (IMA) national president Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal said that the Union government is holding talks with the stakeholders to give clarity on guidelines issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) to the doctors stipulating that they should prescribe generic medicine only to patients.

He said the Union government invited the doctors, IMA, pharmaceutical industries and other stakeholders for talks and hoped consensus will be reached on use of generic drugs and branded drugs.

The IMA president was here on Tuesday to release the logo and brochure on conducting the Doctors Olympiad in Vijayawada from November 22 to 26.

Later, interacting with the media on the guidelines issued by NMC on August 3 to the doctors on prescription of generic drugs, Dr Agarwal said the IMA is also conveying its concerns and opinions to the Central government on prescription of generic drugs.

He said the IMA has also no clarity on the generic drugs and the branded drugs. As branded drugs are sold after thorough testing and quality control, the IMA prefers to prescribe the branded drugs, he said, adding that branded drugs have more quality compared to the generic drugs. “There is no quality control on over 40 per cent generic drugs and doctors believe that generic drugs are not tested properly,” he said. He said the drug sellers generally sell the medicines which yield more commission.

He said the IMA has raised objection and concerns over the guidelines by the NMC. He said NMC is also part of IMA and all are working together in the medical and health sector.

Dr Agarwal said the IMA made lot of contribution to the nation in the health care sector and recalled that 2,000 doctors died during the Covid pandemic in the country. The IMA was in the forefront in conducting vaccination for eradication of polio and creating awareness on the HIV/AIDS when people were panicked by the dreaded disease.