Context :
Doctors to be penalised for
not prescribing generic drugs / New
IndianExpress / 13 Aug 2023
Extract :
Doctors prescribing non-generic drugs will soon land in hot water. The National Medical Commission
(NMC) in a notification dated August 2 advised doctors to prescribe only generic drugs, failing which they would be penalised
and may even see their license to practice suspended.
Though it has been
mandatory for doctors to prescribe only generic drugs, until now, the violators
did not face action.
In its notification titled ‘Regulations relating to Professional Conduct
of Registered Medical Practitioners’, the NMC said India’s out-of-pocket
spending on medications accounts for a major proportion of public spending on
healthcare.
“Generic medicines
are 30 to 80 per cent cheaper than branded drugs. Hence, prescribing generic medicines may overtly bring
down healthcare costs and improve access to quality care,” it said.
In case of the first violation, a doctor may be given a warning and
instructed to attend a workshop or academic programme on ethics, personal and
social relations, and/or professional training. On repeated violations, the doctor’s license to practice
may be suspended, the notification said.
Under the regulations on prescription guidelines, the commission defined
generic medicines as a “drug product that is comparable to brand/ reference
listed product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and
performance characteristics, and intended use.”
The commission also asked doctors to avoid prescribing branded generic
drugs.
Under the generic medicine and prescription guidelines of the
regulations, the NMC defined generic medicines as a "drug product that is
comparable to brand/reference listed product in dosage form, strength, route of
administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended
use."
On the other hand, a branded generic drug is one which has come off
patent and is manufactured by drug companies and sold under different
companies' brand names.
These drugs may be less costly than the branded patent
version but costlier than the bulk-manufactured generic version of the drug.
There is less regulatory control over the prices of branded generic drugs.
My Take :
Extract :
India's drug
regulatory body is creating a national digital database of pharmaceutical manufacturers and their
medicines so that
regulators can be more effective when acting on problems like drug shortages
and quality issues,
Central Drugs Standard
Control Organisation (CDSCO) is finalising software for this and plans to
amend rules for drugs and cosmetics to make it mandatory for manufacturers to regularly put
details of their facilities and products in this database, they said
“Now, there is going
to be a completely transparent system with proper data management,” said a
senior government official, adding that the primary objective would be to get data on how many drug makers exist
here
The new database would maintain names, addresses and licences of all manufacturers, therapeutic categories of their medicines and
details like their dosages and forms, one of the sources said.
3D - Digital Delivery of Drugs
? [ 11 Oct 2015 ]
Extract :
My Suggestions :
* Govt to upload a Mobile App ( DISPENSER
? ) on Health Ministry web site
* All doctors must download it
, after proper registration / authentication
* App will get embedded with
full details of that doctor who uses it
* Doctors to enter Patient Data
in App / then enter prescribed Drug Details
* Doctor will SMS app data
entered , to concerned patient's mobile
* Patient will SMS entered app
data to mobile of Chemist of his choice
* Chemist will deliver the
medicine to the patient with Bill Details in App
* Every action / transaction on
App , will get automatically emailed to web
Servers of
# Health Ministry
# All India Medical Association
# All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists ( AIOCD )
# Drug Controller General of India
Advantages :
* Jobs / business of
Chemists / Druggists saved
* Great convenience for
patients / no need to visit Drug Store
* No chance of Chemist
" misinterpreting " doctor's handwriting !
* Full History of
# Each
Patient ( great benefit to Prescribing doctors )
# Each
Drug ( great benefit to Pharma Companies )
# Each
Chemist Shop ( great benefit to Govt / AIOCD / Tax Dept )
# Each
Doctor ( great interest to All India Medical Association )
==================================================
BARD adds :
Question
>
Given Brand Name of a
drug, can you tell what are it's equivalent Generic drugs ?
BARD Reply >
Yes, I
can tell you the equivalent generic drugs for a given brand name drug.
I have access to a large database of drug information,
including the active ingredients, dosage forms, and strengths of both brand
name and generic drugs.
I can also check the FDA's website to see if a generic
drug has been approved for marketing.
To find the equivalent generic drugs
for a brand name drug, you can simply ask me.
For example, you could say,
"What are the equivalent generic drugs for Lipitor?" or "What is
the generic drug for Nexium?"
I will then search my database and provide you with a list of all
the generic drugs that are equivalent to the brand name drug you specified.
I
can also tell you the price difference between the brand
name drug and the generic drugs.
This
information can be helpful if you are looking for a more affordable option for
your medication.
My Take :
There is no need to punish the doctor
8 Lakh chemists are possibly filling in 80 lakh ( only 10 / day / chemist )
prescriptions every day
Who has got time / energy to check all of these, to determine which
doctor
prescribed a BRANDED drug ?
I turned to BARD once again :
My question to BARD :
Thanks BARD , this is very useful. Now help me make it even
more helpful .
Is it possible for you to provide a API which can link up with the mobile app "
DISPENSER " which I
have described in that blog ?
And , whenever any doctor types a BRANDED drug in the app , it
will
automatically , list side-by-side , names of equivalent GENERIC drugs ?
Here is BARD’s reply :
Yes,
it
is possible for me to provide an API that can link up with the mobile app
"DISPENSER".
I can create an API that will allow the app to query my
database for the
equivalent
generic drugs for a given brand name drug.
The app can then display the list of
equivalent generic drugs side-by-side with the
brand name drug, so that doctors
can easily compare the options and choose the
best one for their patients.
I can also include additional
information in the API response, such as the price
difference between the brand
name drug and the generic drugs, as well as the
FDA approval status of the
generic drugs.
This information can be helpful to
doctors when making prescribing decisions.
I believe that this API would be a valuable addition to the "DISPENSER"
app.
It would make it easier for doctors to
find the best drug for their patients,
and it
would help to ensure that patients get the most affordable and effective
treatment possible.
I would be happy to work with you to
develop this API. Please let me know if you
are interested in moving forward
with this project.
========================================
I pursued
with BARD :
That is splendid , BARD ! From the description of mobile
app DISPENSER , could
you show
me , a schematic User Interface of this app ?
BARD obliged :
Sure, here is a schematic user
interface for the "DISPENSER"
app:
·
Homepage:
·
The homepage of the app is where
doctors can search for drugs. They can
enter the brand name of the drug, or they can browse through
a list of drugs
by category.
·
·
Drug details:
·
When a doctor selects a drug, they
will be taken to a page with detailed
information about the drug, including the active ingredients, dosage forms,
strengths, and side
effects.
·
·
Equivalent generic drugs:
·
The drug details page will also list the equivalent generic drugs for the
brand
name drug. This information can be helpful to doctors when making
prescribing
decisions.
·
·
Prescription:
·
Doctors can create a prescription for
a drug by entering the patient's
information and the dosage and frequency of the drug.
·
·
Dispensing:
·
The app can be used to dispense drugs
to patients. Doctors can scan a
patient's ID card to dispense a drug.
·
·
History:
·
The app keeps track of all the drugs
that have been dispensed to patients.
Doctors can view this history to see what drugs a patient
has been taking and
when they were dispensed.
This is just a schematic user
interface, and the actual design of the app may vary.
However, I believe this
interface would be easy to use and would provide doctors
with the information
they need to prescribe drugs effectively.
Dear Shri Mansukhbhai Mandaviyaji
[ Central
Health Minister ],
From the above , IndiaAI
can easily develop DISPENSER mobile
app within 2
weeks
For implementing it across DOCTORS – CHEMISTS – PATIENTS , you may give
a
time period of 2 YEARS
This will usher India into an era of PREDICTION of ILLNESSES among
different
DEMOGRAHIC PROFILES
Please , do not “ analyze “ till paralysis sets in !
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.hemenparekh.ai / 14
Aug 2023
Related Readings :
Experts
ask why docs reluctant to prescribe generic medicine ……………. TOI / 14
Aug 2023
