On the one hand, the Medical Council of India making it mandatory for doctors to write only the generic name of drugs in their prescription would seem to be the right move. It would indeed imply greater choice for the patient in terms of her being able to select cheaper brands. On the other, it sends out the wrong signal regarding India’s intellectual property rights (IPR) regime by letting cheaper knock-offs enjoy the same access to the market as the drugs manufactured by pharma companies that hold the patents for their formula.
Already, the government policy on pharmaceuticals—like compulsory licensing—inspires little confidence among global pharma majors that have led drug discovery in the recent times after considerable R&D expenditures. Such practices ensure that IPR-sensitive jurisdictions—the US being a case in point—always view India with suspicion, affecting our trade with them, while pharma companies become increasingly reluctant to invest in India. Moreover, giving generics primacy over brands could promote the production of spurious drugs—nearly 25-33% of Indian medicines are estimated to be fake. Taken together, the push for generics and price caps would disincentivse R&D, leading to a situation where Indians are not able to access high-quality drugs, save for imports.
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