Government doctors can no longer write prescriptions for medicines to be bought from private pharmacies. If they do, the Health Department will not only withhold their salary but also initiate disciplinary action, which can even go the extent of dismissal from service. A circular to this effect was issued on Thursday.
However, this has not gone down well with doctors, who have demanded to know what they are to do when government hospital pharmacies are constantly out of stock.
In the circular, all doctors (both permanent and those on contract) have been directed to submit self-attested affidavits to the department stating that they will not write prescriptions for medicines to be bought from private pharmacies or indulge in any other malpractices (such as referring the patient to a particular pharmacy) from now on. The Chief Administrative Officers of hospitals and District Health Officers have been directed to disburse doctors’ salary for July only after obtaining the affidavits.
Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh told The Hindu on Friday that “doctors are getting commission of 25% to 30% from private pharmacies for referring patients to them. That is why they refer patients to private pharmacies.”
Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar, during a recent visit to Koratagere Taluk Hospital, found that patients were regularly being asked to buy medicines from outside on the pretext of non-availability in the hospital pharmacy.
Ms. Rajneesh said: “This is not done when there is money available under Arogya Raksha Samiti (ARS) fund, which can be used if the Karnataka State Drugs Logistics and Warehousing Society fails to supply any particular drug indented by doctors online.”
However, doctors argue that it is “inevitable” for them to send patients to buy medicines from private pharmacies as most of the times there is no supply of some drugs from the Society even after indenting. Moreover, ARS funds, that are available only in district and taluk hospitals, are not adequate for drug procurement. “There is no ARS fund in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as user fee is not collected from out-patients (PHCs have only out-patient service). The annual “untied” grants released for annual maintenance, corpus fund and ARS of each hospital is very meagre,” said a doctor from Tumakuru district quoting anonymity.
Dismissing this argument, the Principal Secretary said if stock is not available in the hospital pharmacy, the available medicine in Jan Aushadi stores (generic drug outlets) on the hospital premises can be used. “Internal arrangements between the hospital and Jan Aushadi stores set up by the government in its hospitals has been made. This arrangement is not prescription-based but indent-based as the amount will be paid by the government to the store,” she explained adding that the onus of indenting medicines on quarterly basis is on each doctor.
