This refers to your editorial “Two steps forward” (March 16). Enforcement of any prohibitory code on all the doctors in the country may not be possible. Besides doctors prescribing costly medicines of pharmaceutical companies that oblige them, there is an unholy nexus between doctors and diagnostic centres.
Every city has an increasing number of private diagnostic centres that charge exorbitantly high amounts for the tests and pay 20-60 per cent of the amount to the doctor directing the patient to the centre. Doctors prescribe superfluous tests and the hapless patient has no way to question the doctor’s “advice”. Studies have revealed that the margin in medicines varies from 40 to 60 per cent.
Medicine prices can be considerably reduced for the public if government-run medicine shops are established in every city, which can procure medicines directly from the pharmaceutical companies against rate-contract. For diagnostic tests, the Medical Council of India or the government may fix and notify rates for various tests and set up a mechanism to address public complaints against diagnostic centres charging more than the notified rates.
M C Joshi, Lucknow
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