Beliefs and attitudes of generic versus original drugs among doctors in a tertiary-care hospital in Western India

Abstract

Background: Physicians have a choice between original and generic drugs while prescribing to patients. The original and generic drugs are rarely studied against each other in patient population, and, hence, it is important to know how health-care providers perceive the differences between two classes of the drugs. Aims and Objective: To analyze the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes of health-care providers in a tertiary-care hospital toward generic and original drugs. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted among 200 students and faculty in a tertiary-care hospital in western India. The questionnaire mainly dealt with perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of doctors toward generic drugs in comparison with original drugs. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Result: Of 200 participants, 62% supported generic substitution for original drugs in most cases, 60 (30%) supported generic substitutions for original drugs in all cases where generics were available, and 16 (8%) did not support generic substitution for original drugs. One hundred and seventeen (58.5%) participants perceived that there was significant difference between price of generic and original brand drugs. Although 56% participants believed that generic drugs are as effective as originals, 56% participants also mentioned that they have experienced difference in the quality of generic drugs against original brand drugs. Conclusion: This study found a gap between knowledge score and generic prescription practices, indicating that training programs for health-care providers in India to improve their knowledge about generic drugs may be necessary.