Prescribing Generic names

Central govt is reportedly going in for making it mandatory for
doctors to prescribe generic names of drugs instead of trade names.The
move is apparently a welcome one as it would curb the alleged practice
of the pharmaceutical companies to woo doctors by cash and kind to
promote sale of their drugs.That apart drug dealers will not have to
keep a host of drugs of same generic names but of different trade
names at their shops.Not only that, they'd require to make less
monetary investment to run their business and much less space would be
needed too.As different pharmaceutical companies sometimes supply a
drug of same formulation at mindbogglingly widely varying prices the
consumer would have now the choice to opt for one that costs less.So
for patients drugs will not be as costly as they are now.

There's also the flip side of the coin.In our country vigilance on
drug manufacturing is not at all satisfactory.So efficacy of the
same drug prepared by different companies is not always the same.The
reputed pharmaceutical companies generally maintain the required
quality of a drug perhaps for their sophisticated infrastructural
facilities and their product also normally cost high. On the other
hand, the lesser known companies who sell drugs at cheaper price
sometimes fail to maintain proper standard as they can't afford that
sophistication in drug manufacturing.Of course it's not always
true.Sometimes many cheaper formulations have the same efficacy as the
costlier ones.Again, there is menace of spurious drugs.All these
problems can be sorted out if there's proper vigil on drug
manufacturing companies to ensure that quality control is rigorously
followed.That apart, vigil should be also kept on the drug stores to
check sale of spurious drugs.Each drug store should compulsorily have
a qualified pharmacist.