Bitter medicine for doctors

The People’s Movement for the Rights of Patients (PMRP) is appealing to the Sri Lanka Medical Council to give a directive to doctors regarding the law on the prescription of drugs under low cost generic names and the stiff penalties for those who fail to do so.

Patients who seek treatment at private hospitals or clinics are generally given prescriptions for drugs under brand names.
The PMRP points out that medical consultants, general practitioners and patients seem to be unaware of laws which insist that the generic names of drugs must also be written and if not both the doctor and the dispenser are liable to fines up to Rs. 100,000 and imprisonment.

The laws gazetted on July 6, 1992 under the Cosmetic Drugs and Devices Act are as follows: =All prescriptions issued by a Medical Practitioner, Dental Surgeon or a Veterinary Surgeon, shall be issued by specifying the generic name for the drugs being prescribed by him, wherever a generic name is available for a drug being prescribed by him. If the prescriber, so requires he may in addition to the generic name, prescribe a particular brand name for the drug prescribed.

No person shall dispense a prescription which does not specify the generic name of a drug.
The penalties in terms of 2005 amendments to the CDD laws and the Fines Act are as follows:

where the nature of the offence involves injury to the health of the public to a fine not less than ten thousand rupees and not exceeding fifty thousand rupees or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both such fine and imprisonment;

for the first offence to a fine not less than five thousand rupees and not exceeding fifty thousand rupees or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment

for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not less than ten thousand rupees and not exceeding one hundred thousand rupees or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

A spokesman for the PMRP said the Movement believed the SLMC should take disciplinary action against doctors who violated this law. He said the PMRP was also consulting lawyers to take legal action in some cases where doctors prescribe drugs only under their brand names.