Abstract
Objectives: Generic medicines constitute an important aspect of affordable health care. “JAN AUSHADHI” campaign was started by the Government of India in 2008 to support generic prescriptions. Recently, medical council of India had requested all clinicians for generic prescriptions. With this background, this study was undertaken to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of generic medicines among doctors.
 Methods: It was a cross-sectional, prospective, questionnaire-based study. After obtaining institute permission, validated questionnaires were distributed to different clinical departments at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru. With gentle reminders in between, filled forms were collected after 7 days.
 Results: Mean age of the participants was 29.05±17.81 years. Out of 250 questionnaires distributed, 156 were returned back without responding. The response rate was 62.4%. Out of 156, 35 (22.43%) were intern medical officers, 89 (57.05%) were post-graduates, and 32 (20.51%) were faculty members. Regarding knowledge, the mean score was 6.24±0.17. 52 (33.33%) participants had good knowledge, 73 (46.79%) had average knowledge, and 31 (19.87%) had poor knowledge about generic medicines. Generics were prescribed by 90 (57.69%) participants. Most of the clinicians (66.02%) felt that prescribing in generics is not a burden on them provided government ensured the quality control of drugs. 121 (77.56%) stated that the socioeconomic status of the patient is an important factor while prescribing generics. 136 (87.17%) felt that generics bring down the treatment costs.
 Conclusion: This study shows that participants were well aware about generic drugs. As opined by the clinicians, a national level online reference must be made available.
Highlights
A generic drug is a medication which is similar to marketed brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics, and intended use
Most of the clinicians (66.02%) felt that prescribing in generics is not a burden on them provided government ensured the quality control of drugs. 121 (77.56%) stated that the socioeconomic status of the patient is an important factor while prescribing generics. 136 (87.17%) felt that generics bring down the treatment costs
This study shows that participants were well aware about generic drugs
Summary
A generic drug is a medication which is similar to marketed brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics, and intended use. It is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “a pharmaceutical product, usually intended to be interchangeable with an innovator product that is manufactured without a license from the innovator company and marketed after the expiry date of the patent or other exclusive rights” [1]. The WHO reports that nearly 80% of total health-care expenses are shared by out-of-pocket payments [5] Reduction of this expenditure to minimum possible levels without affecting the quality of health care would be beneficial [6]
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