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Its pretty open in India. Drugs prescribed by a Doctor can be bought and is mostly available only from the store he mentions in the prescription. Big doctors

Its pretty open in India. Drugs prescribed by a Doctor can be bought and is mostly available only from the store he mentions in the prescription. Big doctors have their own store. You go anywhere else very rarely you can find the same drug. Most of the times doctors will prescribe additional 2-3 generic seasonal medicine which you mostly do not need just to achieve targets so that they can claim their gifts (TVs, Foreign Trips, etc.) This a serious issue in India which no one is batting an eye on.

johnchristopher 7y ago
What kind of drugs do they prescribe ? Alopathic ? Ayurvedic ? Do they favour one over the other ? If only a particular doctor can prescribe his own brand of drugs, does it mean he designs and manufactures them or is there a pool of common recipes from which any pharmacist can make the drug and sell it under very different names ?
- techaddict009 7y ago
  1 - Allopathic. 2 - No much clarity on that. But think these guys (these = pharma company) sell area wise. Say if they tied up with pharma store A for x medicine. They will not sell the same in any other pharam store in that area. And will tie up with Doctors in that area to sell that medicine. I will try to get more info on this. Each company has MR (Medical Representatives) they meet docotor every week on one day and present their schemes and offers.
hereiskkb 7y ago
Can confirm. It is pretty abhorrent how widespread this practice is in India. IMO, the practice ought to be made unlawful. Medicine is a life-critical sector. As such regulations need to be the tightest around it.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  One way or another, it’s widespread everywhere. The exact degree may vary, but it happens everywhere. Usually the laws and regulators allow prescribers tons of discretion, which is often subject to abuse that costs time/money/outcomes to somebody else.
r_singh 7y ago
You're right about this being an epidemic. However, due to rising awareness in recent times, there is a reverse trend. I live in an expensive neighbourhood in a TIER 1 city in India and can confirm that many general physicians now prescribe medicines by their generic names. That being said, it doesn't change the fact that the practice is still widespread. For e.g. I have never been to a dermatologist who will not insist on purchasing a particular often over priced brand, many even have their own pharmacy at their clinic. I'm often shocked by the leniency of laws subject to doctors in India.
Iv 7y ago
In France, the prescription is valid in any pharmacy and the pharmacy seller (who has a degree in pharmacology) can and often do propose the generic version of the prescribed drug. There has been some marketing to present generics as cheap knockoffs of bad quality, leading to many people choosing to pay for the prescribed drug (which will be reimbursed anyway) but it all comes down to the patient's behavior.
- linuxftw 7y ago
  Generics might be cheap knockoffs. It's uncertain if the purity, formulation, method of production, and quality control for a generic will yield the same benefits (or any benefits) for a particular drug. There are countless stories about how some people like some brands of generics better than others. There was some reporting around these parts recently that generics don't really undergo any kind of efficacy studies, they are assumed to just work, and there's really not much oversight whatsoever.
  - Iv 7y ago
    Hmmm, I must confess I don't know the specifics of the laws and controls, but box of medicine have to state the composition: the molecules present and their quantities. Got prescribed 3 mg of TradeMarked(tm) <moleculeXXX>, a generic would be 3mg of NoName <moleculeXXX>. I think labeling a generic incorrectly would result in pretty heavy fines.
    - linuxftw 7y ago
      Consider magnesium supplements. You can get magnesium in a variety of forms: magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, magnesium taurate, magnesium glycinate. Each one of those formulas is going to contain magnesium, but the magnesium is bound to another molecule. One form of magnesium maybe be more effective than another for any given individual or condition. Some products are labeled as just "Magnesium" and it's unclear what form the magnesium is in. Then there's a consideration of yield and purity. If you're making a compound through a given process, it's going to yield X amount of the desired compound, and Y amount of something else (other compounds or unconverted materials). Some of this is going to make it into the end product. If two companies are using totally different processes to create the same end compound, everything is going to be different. > I think labeling a generic incorrectly would result in pretty heavy fines. Who's watching? I don't recall hearing much about generic manufacturers of prescription medications facing much scrutiny.
legulere 7y ago
In Germany doctors are not allowed to sell you prescription drugs, or tell you to which pharmacy to go to. The doctors have to select the cheapest of comparable medications and the pharmacy has to replace with the cheapest available medications. All this just applies for public healthcare. Private healthcare is basically an unregulated Wild West.

johnchristopher 7y ago

What kind of drugs do they prescribe ? Alopathic ? Ayurvedic ? Do they favour one over the other ? If only a particular doctor can prescribe his own brand of drugs, does it mean he designs and manufactures them or is there a pool of common recipes from which any pharmacist can make the drug and sell it under very different names ?

techaddict009 7y ago
1 - Allopathic. 2 - No much clarity on that. But think these guys (these = pharma company) sell area wise. Say if they tied up with pharma store A for x medicine. They will not sell the same in any other pharam store in that area. And will tie up with Doctors in that area to sell that medicine. I will try to get more info on this. Each company has MR (Medical Representatives) they meet docotor every week on one day and present their schemes and offers.

hereiskkb 7y ago

Can confirm. It is pretty abhorrent how widespread this practice is in India. IMO, the practice ought to be made unlawful. Medicine is a life-critical sector. As such regulations need to be the tightest around it.

Scoundreller 7y ago
One way or another, it’s widespread everywhere. The exact degree may vary, but it happens everywhere. Usually the laws and regulators allow prescribers tons of discretion, which is often subject to abuse that costs time/money/outcomes to somebody else.

r_singh 7y ago

You're right about this being an epidemic. However, due to rising awareness in recent times, there is a reverse trend. I live in an expensive neighbourhood in a TIER 1 city in India and can confirm that many general physicians now prescribe medicines by their generic names. That being said, it doesn't change the fact that the practice is still widespread. For e.g. I have never been to a dermatologist who will not insist on purchasing a particular often over priced brand, many even have their own pharmacy at their clinic. I'm often shocked by the leniency of laws subject to doctors in India.

Iv 7y ago

In France, the prescription is valid in any pharmacy and the pharmacy seller (who has a degree in pharmacology) can and often do propose the generic version of the prescribed drug. There has been some marketing to present generics as cheap knockoffs of bad quality, leading to many people choosing to pay for the prescribed drug (which will be reimbursed anyway) but it all comes down to the patient's behavior.

linuxftw 7y ago
Generics might be cheap knockoffs. It's uncertain if the purity, formulation, method of production, and quality control for a generic will yield the same benefits (or any benefits) for a particular drug. There are countless stories about how some people like some brands of generics better than others. There was some reporting around these parts recently that generics don't really undergo any kind of efficacy studies, they are assumed to just work, and there's really not much oversight whatsoever.
- Iv 7y ago
  Hmmm, I must confess I don't know the specifics of the laws and controls, but box of medicine have to state the composition: the molecules present and their quantities. Got prescribed 3 mg of TradeMarked(tm) <moleculeXXX>, a generic would be 3mg of NoName <moleculeXXX>. I think labeling a generic incorrectly would result in pretty heavy fines.
  - linuxftw 7y ago
    Consider magnesium supplements. You can get magnesium in a variety of forms: magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, magnesium taurate, magnesium glycinate. Each one of those formulas is going to contain magnesium, but the magnesium is bound to another molecule. One form of magnesium maybe be more effective than another for any given individual or condition. Some products are labeled as just "Magnesium" and it's unclear what form the magnesium is in. Then there's a consideration of yield and purity. If you're making a compound through a given process, it's going to yield X amount of the desired compound, and Y amount of something else (other compounds or unconverted materials). Some of this is going to make it into the end product. If two companies are using totally different processes to create the same end compound, everything is going to be different. > I think labeling a generic incorrectly would result in pretty heavy fines. Who's watching? I don't recall hearing much about generic manufacturers of prescription medications facing much scrutiny.

legulere 7y ago

In Germany doctors are not allowed to sell you prescription drugs, or tell you to which pharmacy to go to. The doctors have to select the cheapest of comparable medications and the pharmacy has to replace with the cheapest available medications. All this just applies for public healthcare. Private healthcare is basically an unregulated Wild West.