The National Medical Council (NMC) has suspended regulations forcing doctors to prescribe generic drugs.
The Registration of Medical Practitioners (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2023 was published on 2 August.
The National Pharmacopoeia stipulates in its “Regulations on the Management of Professional Behavior of Registered Physicians” that all doctors must prescribe generic drugs, otherwise they will be punished, and even their license to practice will be revoked for a period of time. It also asks doctors to avoid prescribing brand-name generics.
Medicines whose patents expire will become generics and can be sold under their official International Nonproprietary Name or brand name.
“Uncertain quality”
Incidentally, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) have expressed concern that these regulations are not feasible due to uncertain quality.
IMA and IPA members met Federal Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya earlier this week to try to set aside the guidelines and listen to their concerns.
“The National Medical Council Registration (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2023 are hereby suspended with immediate effect,” the NMC said in a notice issued on Thursday.
It also added: “For the removal of doubts, clarify that the National Medical Council Registered Physicians (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2023 will not be implemented and come into force until the National Medical Council has issued a further communiqué on the matter.”
However, the Medical Council of India (Professional Conduct, Manners and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 will come into effect immediately. Notice said.
other regulations
According to regulations, registered doctors and their families are not allowed to accept any gift, travel facilitation, entertainment, cash or money grant, consulting fee or honorarium, or accept entertainment or recreation from pharmaceutical companies or their representatives, commercial medical institutions, medical institutions. Equipment companies or corporate hospitals “under any pretext”. This does not include salaries and benefits that registered physicians may receive as employees of these organizations.
In addition, these practitioners should not participate in any third-party educational activities such as CPD, seminars, workshops, symposiums, conferences, etc. that involve direct or indirect sponsorship by pharmaceutical companies or Allied Healthcare.
The term emergency was first defined as a “life and limb saving procedure”. In the event of a medical emergency, medical records should be provided as soon as possible.
Under the rules, requests for medical records from a patient or authorized caregiver to a registered physician in charge of a hospital’s patient records must be formally acknowledged and must provide documentation within five working days, rather than the current rule of 72 days.
