Banning prescription of brands will kill industry, pharma lobby tells PM

The government’s decision to make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names would “kill the pharmaceutical industry”, the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

IDMA explained that the move might pose serious problems as chemists are not adequately qualified to dispense the right product.

“There will be a huge loss of employment for both technical and non-technical personnel in the Indian pharmaceutical industry,” it said.

Pharma companies have started thinking against hiring sales personnel or medical representatives as there would be no brand to market once the prescription of generic names becomes compulsory. It is feared that sales representatives will become redundant.

Leading pharmaceutical companies have at least 3,000 representatives.

“We request both the branded and generic products be co-prescribed so that a doctor can exercise his right to show his preference for a brand and a patient can decide whether to buy the brand or generic version,” the letter said, adding the prescription of generics would push chemists to sell medicines that suit him the best. They might push those that yield him better profits.

Branded generics occupy 80 per cent of the domestic phamaceutical industry, while the rest is taken up by the unbranded generics, which are sold only in government pharmacies.

IDMA, which represents drug majors such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Cipla and Lupin, among others, is also in favour of lowering prices of drugs.

“Drug prices in India are the lowest in the world. However, if there is an opportunity to further cut prices of essential drugs, the industry is ready to co-operate,” it said.

The industry feels that eliminating brand names would not be in national interest and would weaken it globally.

The pharma body also suggested the government to subsidise the price of drugs to make them affordable, besides increasing expenditure at government hospitals so that the poor can be given drugs for free.