Supreme Court: Doctors Should Prescribe Only Generic Medicines, Not Branded Medicines

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by the Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India (FMRAI), examined the issue of pharmaceutical companies bribing doctors to promote costly drugs.

The plea emphasised that large sums of money are spent on sales and promotional activities aimed at influencing doctors to increase prescription volumes.

The Court remarked that "we believe that doctors should be mandated to prescribe only generic medicines. In Rajasthan, an executive instruction already requires all medical professionals to prescribe only generic drugs. They can't prescribe by any company name."

The next hearing in the case is set to take place in July. (FMRAI V UOI & Ors.)