DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has recently asked private health practitioners in the country to use generic names of medicines while prescribing drugs instead of brand names. However, while many believe the new regulation will help curb alleged collusion between private physicians and pharmaceutical firms, lot of people say that it can lead to nexus between pharmacists and manufacturers for profit.
Medicines often have more than one name, the generic name, which is the active ingredient of the drug and a brand name, which is the trade name the manufacturer gives to the medicine. The drug under the generic name paracetamol is more known by its brand names as Panadol, Calpol, Adol, and Tylenol among others. Ibuprofen comes with brand names as Nurofen, Brufen and Anadin ultra, while diclofinax sodium, a pain killer has famous brand names like Voltaren, Rofenac, or Rapitus
To curb errors while giving medicines, recently, the SCH has made it mandatory for private practitioners to use generic name of the drug in prescriptions.
"Frequent monitoring of errors in dispensing medicines revealed that the errors occur due to similarity of trade names which create problems and lead to confusion. Thus, with the aim of reducing the risk of error in the prescribing and dispensing of medicines, all physicians must use generic names in their prescriptions," stated the SCH circular to private physicians.
It also said doctors could write brand names or proprietary titles between brackets after the generic name.
"Doctors usually prefer the brand names because these drugs come from pharmaceutical companies that are trusted worldwide. They can be recognised, pronounced and remembered by health professionals and members of the public easily," said a private practitioner at a leading clinic here.
Use of generic name will help reduce drug prescription errors according to most of the pharmacists and doctors who spoke to The Peninsula.
"Generic name usage is better than brand names as possible confusion or mistakes are reduced if all doctors use the same names when prescribing medicines. There are some brand names which have no connection to its active ingredient, while there are also some other brand names which resemble generic names of completely different drugs. This can confuse pharmacists and hence cause errors," said an HMC pharmacist.
"Generic name gives pharmacists more freedom in choosing the apt medicine for a patient. Sometimes people come with a prescription with brand name and if it is not available in the market, we cannot suggest or convince customers to use an alternative brand. With the use of generic name we will now be able tell or show the customer that active ingredient in the brands are same, as generic name will be mentioned on all brands," said Azza, a pharmacist.
"Also it is better to use generic name as we (pharmacists) are the last stop of a patient and if there is any error in the prescription, as to dosage or brand itself, we can fix it," she said.
However, according to some customers, the use of generic name will help pharmacists to choose expensive drugs or the brands from pharmaceutical companies they prefer. Price of medicines vary a lot depending on the brand and country of origin. Even for over-the-counter drug, such as paracetamol, there is often a big price difference between brands.
"There are chances of business-minded pharmacists to exploit this rule as they can give medicines of pharmaceutical firms that are closely linked to them, which they import, medicines that are more in stock, or those which are more expensive," a pharmacist said.
"Prices of antibiotic drugs range from QR60 to QR150 depending on the brand. So when prescribing, doctors know the financial condition of their patients and hence use brand names that are cheaper. Now doctor's choices are less and pharmacists who focus on profits can give expensive drugs. However, SCH's clause for using brand names in brackets along with generic name will help, but pharmacists necessarily do not have to follow that," a doctor said.
© The Peninsula 2011
