The lobby of doctor and drug manufacturing company is in existence from years together whose victims are patients. The medicine as manufactured by MNC’s will be available at relatively lesser price from a local manufacturer with same effect.
The government plans to launch an SMS-based service which would enable patients to choose a cheaper alternative to a prescribed drug.The government plans to cover at least two-thirds of the prescription market through this scheme,which would include all widely used therapies like anti infectives,painkillers,respiratory and gastro-intestinal drugs.
There would,however,be riders.The government will set in filters where options may not be available.These would include cases where the person is suffering from serious ailments,and certain lifestyle diseases like diabetes where the medicine and dose vary according to the persons physiological conditions.Also,there could be riders specifying that the alternative offered has to be from large companies with a national presence.
Though consumers are price sensitive,they may not be aware of cheaper options which exist for a particular drug.The SMS programme will arm the consumer with cheaper options.
However,similar consumer initiatives of the government in the past have not met with much success.A few years ago,the government had launched a 24×7 helpline where a consumer could complain of being overcharged by a chemist.It also gave consumers information on essential medicines and their prices,besides helping them locate a cheaper generic version if an expensive,branded version had been prescribed.
