PATIENTS AT ANY GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL ARE NOT GETTING GENERIC MEDICINES DOCTORS ARE RELUCTANT TO PRESCRIBE THEM

ARA (RNI) Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Project, cheap generic medicines are to be made available to the patients and even the Bihar government made it necessary for the doctor to prescribe generic medicines with a warning but due to indifferent attitude of the doctors the patients particularly the poor patients are not getting the benefits of the project and even the warning of the government has no impact on the doctors. As a result, the patients are forced and destined to purchase expensive English medicines. The project has completely deviated from its goal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the scheme on July 1, 2015 so that the patient who cannot afford expensive medicines, can get medicines of the same quality at cheap rate. While launching the scheme, he had requested the doctors to prescribe generic medicines to the patients.

Generic medicines are not prescribed to patients in any government hospital including the Ara Sadar Hospital. Doctors prescribe only expensive English medicines to the patients. In such a situation, the patients are forced to buy expensive English medicines and have to face financial burden. Poor patients are most affected persons most of whom sometimes do not buy English medicines due to financial crunch and leave their dearer one on the mercy of God.

The ambitious government schemes are not succeeding due to the doctor’s arbitrariness, the poor patients are left with no option but to follow the doctors’ instructions. Only branded companies make generic medicines, the only difference is that they do not have the brand name on them and the non-branded claims are not inferior in quality. Companies deliberately do not advertise generic clams.

In all the 14 blocks of Bhojpur district Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi Centres have been opened to felicitate the poor patients. The Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi Centres in Bhojpur district include one in Ara Sadar Hospital,  one in Koelwar Primary Health Centre, one in Jagdishpur Referral Hospital, one at Primary Health Centre at Piro, one at Shahpur Referral Hospital, one at Bihia Primary Health Centre and others.

The government has to make 733 types of medicines at the Jan Aushadhi Centres for the convenience of the patients but till now not more than a hundred types of medicines are available at any centre. Due to this the patient is facing a lot of problems and they keep wandering for the medicines but they do not get them at affordable price.

Patients get generic medicines at these Prime Minister Jan Aushadhi centres at five to ten times lower prices than branded medicines and some of them are available at 90 percent lower prices. The patients get a lot of benefits from them.

Dr. Amit Kumar said that the cost of Glycave brand medicine meant for cancer cost only Rs. 11,400 for a month while the cost of Veenate of other brand for the same disease will be Rs. 1,14,400 a month. He added that the generic medicines are cheaper due to the interference of the government.

After all kinds of research, a salt is prepared for the treatment of a disease. It is given the form of medicine. The generic name of the salt is decided by a special committee according to the composition of the salt and the disease. The gejneric name of any salt remains the same all over the world.

Some patients when contacted at the Ara Sadar Hospital, on the condition of anonymity said that the doctors are reluctant to prescribe generic medicines as they get commission ranging from 40 percent to 80 percent on branded English medicines which they do not get from the generic medicines and as such it is a big source of their income besides consultant fees.

The Civil Surgeon-in-Charge, Ara Sadar Hospital, Dr. K N Sinha said that it is necessary to provide cheap medicines to the patients so that they do not have to bear any financial burden. The matter has come to his notice and now it will be investigated and action will be taken as per rules.