Consumers Take Note

Patients always go by their doctor’s prescription and stick to the medicines recommended by them. You may take the Crocin’s example again; the doctor generally prescribes Crocin and not paracetamol. If you are an aware consumer and ask your doctor to prescribe generic medicines, the doctor will most likely do that and you will realize the difference in the price of the medicines.

Pharmaceutical companies are known to engage in activities of luring doctors into prescribing their brand instead of generic medicines. As per a 2006 report published by Consumers International assessing how 20 major international drug companies marketed their products and upheld their own codes of ethics, drug companies use unscrupulous and unethical marketing tactics not only to influence doctors to prescribe their products but also to subtly persuade consumers that they need them. The report alleges that: through patients groups, students and Internet chatrooms to bypass the ban on advertising except to doctors. ‘modern’ lifestyle diseases, such as stress, to encourage people to ask their doctors for medicines.

and efficacy of their drugs. and promote drugs including kickbacks, gifts, free samples and consulting agreements. anti-competitive strategies, including cartels and price hikes.