The High Cost Of Cheap Drugs

For now, a medical row has been put to rest. The National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulatory body guiding medical professionals, has put on hold its order requiring doctors to exclusively prescribe non-branded generic medicines to patients.

- Sonali Acharjee

The NMC's about-turn followed a meeting on August 21 at which representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) spoke to the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and expressed their apprehension about the quality of unbranded generics. This brought to an end a heated and nearly month-long debate between doctors and the government. However, the very possibility of such a directive coming into force has left many doctors shaken.

Generic medicines are drugs that are not under patent, which means manufacturers other than the ones that came up with the medicine are able to produce it. According to NMC guidelines, a generic drug is one that is the same as a branded one in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics and intended use. There are two types of generic drugs-branded and non-branded. Branded generics are cheaper than patented medicine but more expensive than non-branded generic medicine. For example, Crocin and Dolo 650 are branded generic medicines for pain and fever. Paracetamol is the non-branded generic medicine for the same, and any company can make it.

The August 2 fiat to determinedly push unbranded generic medicines wasn't an isolated move. In May 2023, there were talks of passing a generic drug mandate for private hospitals as well. The rationale behind the NMC guideline was to reduce healthcare costs. Currently, the World Health Organization estimates, nearly 55 million Indians are pushed into poverty annually due to out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare, especially for medicines. By promoting generic medicines-which are often 30 per cent to 80 per cent cheaper than their branded equivalents the NMC hopes to reduce the cost of treatment in the country.