India News | IMA Members Meet Mandaviya, Express Concern over NMC Regulations Making Prescribing Generic Drugs Mandatory

New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) Members of the Indian Medical Association and Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance on Monday met Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and expressed concern over the NMC regulation making it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic medicines.

They also suggested that registered medical practitioners should be allowed to attend conferences sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or the allied health sector.

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"We put forth our concerns over the mandatory prescribing of generic medicines saying it is not feasible because of the uncertainty about their quality.

"Also, for doctors, medical science is a constantly evolving field and clinicians need to upgrade their knowledge with regard to latest developments and medicines through conferences supported by pharmaceutical companies and that should be allowed," Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal, IMA National President, told PTI.

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Later in a statement, the IMA said the health minister gave ample time to all stakeholders to present their points of view and made note of their concerns.

The IMA had earlier demanded deferring the NMC regulations that make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic drugs, stating the biggest impediment to generic drugs is the uncertainty about their quality.

The IMA stated that less than 0.1 per cent of the drugs manufactured in India are tested for quality.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) in its 'Regulations relating to Professional Conduct of Registered Medical Practitioners" stated that all doctors must prescribe generic drugs, failing which they will be penalised and even their license to practice may also be suspended for a period.

It also asked doctors to avoid prescribing branded generic drugs.

According to the regulations, "Registered Medical Practitioners and their families must not receive any gifts, travel facilities, hospitality, cash or monetary grants... access to entertainment or recreation from pharmaceutical companies or their representatives, commercial healthcare establishments, medical device companies, or corporate hospitals under any pretext."

Also, registered medical practitioners should not be involved in any third-party educational activity like seminar, workshop, symposia and conference, which involves direct or indirect sponsorships from pharmaceutical companies or the allied health sector, the NMC regulations stated.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)