Nitesh Sangral
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 15: Branded drugs are being prescribed with impunity by the doctors as the Prescription Investigation Audit Committee (PIAC) has not conducted a single Audit despite the lapse of one year. Following directions of the Medical Council of India in view of a number of complaints regarding prescription of branded drugs, the Health and Medical Education had made PIAC to check the prescription of branded medicines.
Official sources told Early Times that in the beginning of 2017, the H&ME department had constituted a 'Prescription, Investigation Audit Committee' comprising of HoD Microbiology Dr. Bella Mahajan, HoD Pathology Dr. K.K. Koul, HoD Community Medicine Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Associate Prof. Department of Pharmacology Dr. Seema Gupta, and Medical Superintendent of the respective hospitals to conduct audit every six months and submit its findings to the higher authorities.
"More than a year has passed but the committee not just failed to perform its duties, it did not hold a single meeting.
As a result, some doctors of the government hospitals have been prescribing branded drugs instead of generic medicine to the patients", a senior doctor, seeking anonymity, said.
Source further told that despite it being made mandatory for the doctors vide Health department's order number 649-H&ME of 2016 to write names of generic medicines in capital letters on the prescription, no one is complying with the order.
Later, a separate order was issued by the department concerned which said that three copies of prescription should be issued at the time of registration of each patient in government hospitals of the state. Out of these three copies two were to be retained by the hospital so that the audit committee could cross verify if the medicines were prescribed as per the order. However, this order also remains on papers only.
Besides, MCI has made amendments in the Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics Regulation-2002 and issued directives to the physicians to prescribe medicines only in their generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters.
Unfortunately, when the matter was taken up with Head of this committee HoD Microbiology Dr Bella Mahajan , she shirked the responsibility on other members of the committee. |
