Action will be taken against govt doctors who do not prescribe generic medicines: Official

Stern action will be taken against doctors in government hospitals in Uttarakhand if they prescribe branded medicines to patients coming to hospitals instead of generic drugs, Director General Health Tripti Bahuguna said on Monday.

She asked all chief medical officers to ensure that doctors in hospitals under their jurisdiction prescribe only generic medicines to the patients.

Bahuguna also asked them to take stern action against doctors who do not do this.

Jana Aushadhi Kendras, selling generic medicines that are far cheaper than branded drugs, have been opened across the country to give economically weaker sections access to quality treatment.

The government keeps issuing orders from time to time asking doctors to prescribe generic medicines but it has been found they continue to prescribe branded medicines violating the orders, the DG health said in her letter to the CMOs.