Prescribe generic medicines or those available at pharmacy, doctors told

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 2

The district Health Department has asked doctors working at various CHCs, PHCs and government dispensaries to prescribe medicines that are available at government pharmacies. 

The department has instructed them to prescribe only generic medicines in case they have to prescribe a medicine, which is not available at government hospital pharmacies. 

In the new instructions issued by the Civil Surgeon’s office, doctors have also been asked to get all medical tests conducted from the labs at their institutes and in case a test is not available at a particular place, these should be done from labs at Government Medical College. 

The Civil Surgeon’s office has asked the Health Department employees to follow instructions seriously. The move is aimed at providing affordable treatment to patients visiting government hospitals. 

With recent change in senior functionaries of the state government, the medical fraternity is seeing the move as a part of the plan to reconnect with the public. 

“Doctors working with the public health sector do not have a problem in prescribing medicines that are available at government hospitals or getting the tests done from the government hospitals. But it will have to be seen whether the government will provide sufficient medicines for patients,” a physician said. 

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