Health Policy: Generic Drugs - The Ethical Dimensions

Abstract

Recent restrictions imposed by the Government of India on prescribing 'brand medicines have invoked stiff resistance from stakeholders, including doctors and public. The aftermath of such a restriction and making available only generic medicines and depriving the patients of their right to have the medicines of their and their doctors' choice is examined in this article under the lens of cardinal bioethics principles. Insisting on prescription of only generics with dubious standards of quality, efficacy and safety proves to be unethical and undesired' when examined under the cardinal principles of ethics. The alleged 'conflict of interest of practitioners is also not proved. Authority should evolve mechanisms to ensure quality of generics before enforcing their use and should ban brand medicines when such legislations are made. Suitable price regulating and quality control legislations and adequate machinery to enforce them effectively will go a long way in making available medicines of desired quality in the country. In the existing circumstances, any decision to ban 'brand medicines' violates all basic tenets of ethics and is sure to defeat the very intention of fetching quality healthcare to the community.