Prayagraj: Despite of ban on entry of medical representatives (MRs) in government hospitals of the state by the government, there is nothing for the government hospitals functioning from Prayagraj. This violation can be easily witnessed at Swroop Rani Medical College and other hospitals as since morning at almost all the Out Door Patient Departments (OPD) a set medical representative of a private company is seen managing the patient crowd and helping in collecting their prescription waiting for their turn.
In fact, the MRs in the name of promoting their products coax doctors into prescribing their expensive medicines. Ultimately, it is the poor patients, who bear the brunt of these expensive medicines, prescribed by doctors. Moreover, these MRs waste valuable time of doctors, which is meant for patients.
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According to experts, the current spat between the government and pharma companies is only a continuation of a larger ongoing debate, over the use of generic and proprietary drugs.
It may be recalled that the health department has banned MRs from visiting doctors in government hospitals. Citing its ‘free generic medicines program, the department said now, there is no need for MRs to promote the dispensing of any other drugs through doctors in government hospitals.
A government doctor in Uttar Pradesh is not permitted to prescribe any other drug than generics available through government hospitals for free.
In the recent development, the authorities concerned have issued fresh warnings to doctors to refrain from engaging MRs during the OPD hours. Doctors have been asked to dedicate their OPD timings only to patients.
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The concerned doctors during various inspections have found that Medical representatives were present in the hospitals during OPD hours. Surprisingly no action was taken against these MRs due to the best reason known for them.
According to Chief Medical Officer Dr Anshul Panday, it causes inconvenience to patients. Disciplinary action will be taken against government doctors who entertain MRs.
Otherwise also, as per the latest guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and other related bodies, doctors are expected to prescribe only generic medicines, he added.
