| PIAC succumbs to influential GMC&H docs, limited only to DH, SDH level | | |
Nitesh Sangral
JAMMU, Jan 15: The Prescription and Investigation Audit Committee (PIAC) allegedly succumbed to the influential doctors in the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) and Associated Hospitals as not even a single audit has been conducted so far by the so-called Committee.
But, interestingly the Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department has planned to introduce a similar committee at District and Sub District Hospital level which raised many eyebrows over the intention of the department.
It is in place to mention here that in the beginning of the year 2017, the H&ME department had constituted a PIAC comprising headed by then HoD Microbiology with HoD Pathology, HoD Community Medicine, Associate Prof Department of Pharmacology, and Medical Superintendents of the respective hospitals as members to conduct an audit every six months and submit its findings to the higher authorities.
“But after the lapse of three years, the PIAC has not even held a single meeting as well as conducted any audit for which it had been constituted but the purpose of the committee has been beaten due to influential doctors, who are backed by the few powerful persons sitting on higher posts,” an official of H&ME told.
As a result, officials alleged that, some doctors of the respective hospitals have been continuing the practice of prescribing branded drugs instead of generic medicines to the patients which is a clear violation of the directions of the concerned authorities but not a step has been taken so far to implement the department’s directions strictly.
Recently, the senior officials of the H&ME Department held a meeting with representatives of the different health institutes and asked them to constitute a Prescription Audit Committee (PAC) in each district and Sub-District Hospital and the key findings will be submitted to the concerned CMO and routed to the administrative department through the Health Directorate.
Ridiculing the department’s recent decision, an official termed it as merely an eye wash as the previous committee, which was set constituted for GMC&H was unable to conduct a single audit.
“Though a so-called committee was constituted in the past but I am not even aware of that I am part of the above-said committee,” one of the committee members told Early Times.
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