Pharma industry in a huddle after fresh NMC regulations for doctors

"Power thus shifts to chemists instead of doctors. Whichever company offers better incentives, the chemist would prefer it," the industry feared

With the National Medical Commission (NMC) making it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic names for drugs, pharma-industry groups are in a huddle over questions of quality and safety.

A senior executive of a prominent lobby group said the fresh regulations were being examined. “If doctors prescribe only generic molecule names, then there may be an issue with quality. With a branded generic there comes a quality assurance and thus this is critical for patient safety,” the person said.

“There are over 10,000 manufacturers of medicines in the country, and not all of them follow the same quality guidelines. Therefore,