Concerned over the reports regarding prescribing unnecessary medicines by some doctors in government hospitals to promote the products of some specific companies, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Bhagat has said that the Government has constituted Audit Regulatory Panels which regularly monitor the prescriptions written by the doctors.The Government will make a foolproof mechanism to maintain the record of each prescription written by the doctors in all the hospitals across the State to discourage unhealthy practice of prescribing unnecessary medicines to the patients. A duplicate copy of the prescription will remain in the hospital record for auditing purpose. The doctors will have to write the medicines as per the available list of drugs in the hospitals. In case the particular medicine is not available in the hospital store, they will preferably prescribe the generic drug as an alternative, the Minister asserted.
Calling upon the doctors to strictly follow the government instructions and prescribe only genuine and necessary medicines as per the government supply, the Minister warned against any violation of the directives. Meanwhile, the Minister directed the Director Health Services to ensure necessary auditing of prescriptions in a systematic manner and closely monitoring the system to safeguard the interests of poor patients. He also called for prominently displaying the lists of available free drugs in the hospitals for the information of the patients.The Minister said the Government has already implemented the Free Drug Policy for the patients in the government run hospitals across the State from Ist of June this year and made available most of the essential drugs for the indoor and outdoor patients. The Free Drug Policy is being implemented in all the government hospitals except Government Medical Colleges and associated hospitals.Meanwhile, the Minister has reviewed the supply position of medicines in the government hospitals, particularly in Kashmir Valley in view of the prevailing situation and directed the concerned heads of institutions to monitor the supply position on daily basis and ensure availability without any lapse.