The centre has withdrawn its directive making the prescription of generic drugs mandatory—but only after raising the hackles of the medical community
Illustration by Nilanjan Das
ISSUE DATE: Sep 11, 2023 | UPDATED: Sep 1, 2023 20:15 IST
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. 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.