Once this power is taken away, as intended by the proposed law, the onus of giving the branded generic drug will be with the chemist. Besides substituting prescribed drugs, chemists could be selling more expensive generic drugs to patients, thereby defeating the very purpose of the law. This happened mainly with generic drugs, which were manufactured in India and exported to the US. The policy to implement legislation for the prescription of generic drugs by doctors is a good move, no doubt. Increasing drug manufacturing units and investing heavily in drug research and development will effectively make India “drug self-sufficient” with a wider and cost-effective “drug reach”.

Source: Indian Express May 11, 2017 18:40 UTC