Doctors in govt hospitals in Delhi asked to prescribe generic

All doctors working in government-run hospitals in the national capital has been directed by Delhi government to prescribe generic drugs and salt names and not brands.
The order has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the Health Department of Delhi government, S C L Das.
According to the order, "the drug policy of government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) stipulates prescription of medicines by generic names. It has been observed that several doctors in the hospitals and dispensaries of GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) are prescribing the medicines as per the brand name instead, which is in contravention of the existing policy."

The order has been sent to all Medical Superitendents and medical officers of dispensaries to be implemented with immediate effect.
Health Minister Satyendra Jain has been visiting various hospitals since he took charge to assess the conditions of the patients and doctors there.
During his interaction, the patients complained that less costlier generic medicines are easily available in hospitals but the expensive ones have to be bought from outside.

It is expected that with this order, generic medicines stores would be set up in the hospitals.
However, according to doctors of some hospitals, in the treatment of some specific diseases, prescribing generic medicines will not yield better results.

"We want our patients to recover fast and also want them to take good medicines. But in the treatment of some specific serious diseases like open heart surgery, prescribing generic medicines will not yield results," a doctor said.