Doctors No Longer Allowed to Write Expensive Brand Names on Prescriptions

Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has prohibited medical practitioners in public and private sectors from writing the brand names of medicines in prescriptions.

According to the official notification, DRAP has directed all provincial healthcare departments to ensure medical practitioners in public and private sectors prescribe medicines only with their generic names.

DRAP has issued the latest directive after receiving thousands of complaints on Pakistan Citizen’s Portal (PCP) which highlighted the collusion of doctors and pharmaceutical companies to exploit people by prescribing expensive branded medicines, said DRAP’s Director Pharmacy Services, Dr. Abdur Rasheed.

It is a common practice in public and private sectors that the medical practitioners write the brand names of medicines in prescriptions which restricts common citizens to only purchase the expensive medicines of specific brands.

However, DRAP has made it illegal for medical practitioners in public and private sectors to write the brand names of medicines in prescriptions, noted Dr. Rasheed, adding that medical practitioners will prescribe medicines only with their generic names.