New Delhi : In a significant statement to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel, reiterated that doctors must prescribe drugs using their generic names, written legibly and preferably in capital letters, as per medical ethics and guidelines.
The directive is part of Clause 1.5 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette, and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, which mandates rational prescribing to ensure affordable healthcare access.
Key Highlights:
- All Central Government hospitals, CGHS doctors, and Wellness Centres have been instructed to prescribe only generic medicines.
- States have been advised to conduct regular prescription audits in public health facilities to ensure compliance.
- The National Health Mission (NHM) supports the provision of essential generic drugs free of cost in public facilities.
- MP Shri Sanjay Yadav raised concerns about the excessive costs of branded medicines and questioned whether the government would legislate generic prescriptions for private hospitals.
- In response, the Minister clarified that while no official study has been conducted on the cost disparity, efforts are ongoing to strengthen price regulation through the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy, 2012 and the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.
Background: In August 2023, the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued the RMP Regulations 2023, strongly encouraging generic prescriptions. However, these rules faced stiff opposition from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which argued that quality assurance remains a major challenge. With less than 0.1% of drugs tested for quality, the IMA emphasized that patient safety must not be compromised.
Due to the backlash, the Health Ministry temporarily put the new NMC regulations on hold.
Despite these hurdles, the government continues pushing for wider adoption of generic prescribing to reduce the financial burden on patients and promote equitable healthcare access.
