Plea in HC against non-functioning generic drug stores

A PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court Wednesday alleging that most of Jan Aushadhi Stores (JAS) or generic drug stores are lying defunct across states and there is urgent need to make easily available the medicines by their generic names at reasonable price.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw reserved the order on the plea after the petitioner, NGO Fight for Justice, and the central government concluded their arguments.

The plea filed by the NGO through its member Jitendra Jain sought the court's direction to the central government to open such shops on a large scale throughout the country and give systematic, regular publicity regarding the low prices of generic or unbranded medicines with correct and accurate location of the stores and ensure that these are always functional.

The government counsel however, told the court that there many states where JAS are located across the country. These include Odisha, Punjab, Jharkhand, Assam, Delhi, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir etc.

Advocate K.R. Chitra, appearing for the NGO, told the court despite the fact that generic or non-patented drugs are cheaper and more affordable, doctors prescribe only branded drugs and are thereby don't comply with regulations in the Medical Council of India Act that doctors have to prescribe medicines with their generic names.

The prescription trends at some of the Delhi hospitals have revealed in the past that less than 35 percent drugs are prescribed by their generic name (chemical name), contended Chitra.

"The prices of generic drugs, which have the same therapeutic qualities, are significantly lower than their branded versions. For example, popular brands of paracetamol cost Rs.10 for a strip of 10 tablets (500 mg), whereas its non-branded generic equivalent costs as less as Rs 2.45 for the same batch of tablets," the advocate argued.

The plea said that the India has very large population, of which a majority are living below poverty line and thus "not in a position to purchase branded medicines at high cost".

"Hence it is very necessary to make available medicines by their generic names at reasonable price," it added.

"Over the years, India has developed a strong capability in producing generic medicines in almost all the therapeutic categories. These medicines are being sold mostly as branded medicines with high brand promotion and marketing expenditure which pushes up the retail price of these medicines," it said.

The plea also added that pharmacists in many countries are authorized to substitute branded medicines for the generic medicines to the advantage of the patient, but in India, this practice is not prevalent for various reasons and the benefits of lower prices of generic medicines are generally not available to the patients.