News Analysis India

Tag: NMC

  • Controversial move making it mandatory for doctors to prescribe only generic drugs put on hold

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The controversial NMC regulation stipulating that all doctors must mandatorily prescribe generic drugs or face a penalty has been put on abeyance.

    On Thursday, the National Medical Commission (NMC) put on hold the ‘Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, published on August 2.

    The regulations made it mandatory for all doctors to prescribe generic drugs, failing which they will be penalised, and even their license may be suspended for a period. The other regulation barred them from accepting gifts from pharma companies or endorsing drug brands.

    The regulations raised the hackles of the medical fraternity, which slammed the move to regulate them.

    The Indian Medical Association (IMA) vehemently opposed the move and held a two-hour meeting on Monday with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, expressing their concerns.

    Speaking with The New Indian Express, a jubilant IMA National President, Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal, said they welcome the move and are happy that the health minister understood their concerns and directed the NMC to put the regulations on hold.

    “We are grateful to the minister for being receptive and considering our genuine demands. We want to promise that the entire medical fraternity would work to ensure affordable medical health for the people of this country.”

    “The entire set of 2023 Regulations notified by the NMC has been held in abeyance,” the IMA reposted on X (formerly Twitter).

    ALSO READ | More voices of protest against NMC rules binding doctors to prescribe only generic drugs

    “It’s a triumph that showcases the power of collective efforts and reinforces our association’s significance. Let’s continue to stand united, uphold the values of our noble profession, and work towards a healthcare system,” the IMA reposted.

    The regulation related to generic drugs was slammed by the medical fraternity and  pharma companies, including branded generic and even the pharmacy association. The move was opposed by all the medical associations and bodies, including the Association of Healthcare Providers (AHPI), the National Medicos Organisation, FAIMA Doctors Association and Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association.

    Interestingly, a survey by Local Circles, a community-based social media platform, regarding generic medicine, revealed that just seven per cent of people surveyed agreed with the mandates of doctors prescribing only the generic name of the drugs. At the same time, the rest opposed the move; over 20,000 people were surveyed for the survey.

    Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, past president of IMA Cochin, told The New Indian Express that the move “is welcomed by all doctors.” “Doctors prescribe medications that they have found effective through years of practice. Patients are entitled to get good quality medications. While generics is a good concept overall, unfortunately, because of variation in quality, we are far from implementing a 100% generic prescription in our country.”

    In its notification on Thursday, the NMC said, “That National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, are hereby held in abeyance with immediate effect. That for removal of doubts, it is clarified that the National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, shall not be operative and effective till further Gazette Notification on the subject by the National Medical Commission.”

    In their meeting with the health minister, the IMA also suggested that doctors should be allowed to attend conferences sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or the allied health sector.

    They said the regulation barring doctors from attending conferences sponsored by pharma companies warranted reconsideration and demanded that associations and organisations be exempted from the purview of NMC guidelines.

    NEW DELHI: The controversial NMC regulation stipulating that all doctors must mandatorily prescribe generic drugs or face a penalty has been put on abeyance.

    On Thursday, the National Medical Commission (NMC) put on hold the ‘Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, published on August 2.

    The regulations made it mandatory for all doctors to prescribe generic drugs, failing which they will be penalised, and even their license may be suspended for a period. The other regulation barred them from accepting gifts from pharma companies or endorsing drug brands.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The regulations raised the hackles of the medical fraternity, which slammed the move to regulate them.

    The Indian Medical Association (IMA) vehemently opposed the move and held a two-hour meeting on Monday with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, expressing their concerns.

    Speaking with The New Indian Express, a jubilant IMA National President, Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal, said they welcome the move and are happy that the health minister understood their concerns and directed the NMC to put the regulations on hold.

    “We are grateful to the minister for being receptive and considering our genuine demands. We want to promise that the entire medical fraternity would work to ensure affordable medical health for the people of this country.”

    “The entire set of 2023 Regulations notified by the NMC has been held in abeyance,” the IMA reposted on X (formerly Twitter).

    ALSO READ | More voices of protest against NMC rules binding doctors to prescribe only generic drugs

    “It’s a triumph that showcases the power of collective efforts and reinforces our association’s significance. Let’s continue to stand united, uphold the values of our noble profession, and work towards a healthcare system,” the IMA reposted.

    The regulation related to generic drugs was slammed by the medical fraternity and  pharma companies, including branded generic and even the pharmacy association. The move was opposed by all the medical associations and bodies, including the Association of Healthcare Providers (AHPI), the National Medicos Organisation, FAIMA Doctors Association and Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association.

    Interestingly, a survey by Local Circles, a community-based social media platform, regarding generic medicine, revealed that just seven per cent of people surveyed agreed with the mandates of doctors prescribing only the generic name of the drugs. At the same time, the rest opposed the move; over 20,000 people were surveyed for the survey.

    Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, past president of IMA Cochin, told The New Indian Express that the move “is welcomed by all doctors.” “Doctors prescribe medications that they have found effective through years of practice. Patients are entitled to get good quality medications. While generics is a good concept overall, unfortunately, because of variation in quality, we are far from implementing a 100% generic prescription in our country.”

    In its notification on Thursday, the NMC said, “That National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, are hereby held in abeyance with immediate effect. That for removal of doubts, it is clarified that the National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023, shall not be operative and effective till further Gazette Notification on the subject by the National Medical Commission.”

    In their meeting with the health minister, the IMA also suggested that doctors should be allowed to attend conferences sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or the allied health sector.

    They said the regulation barring doctors from attending conferences sponsored by pharma companies warranted reconsideration and demanded that associations and organisations be exempted from the purview of NMC guidelines.

  • Centre okays lowering cut-off marks by 25 percentile for admission to 2022-23 PG medical courses 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday approved lowering the cut-off marks for admission to PG medical courses for 2022-23 while taking into consideration that a large number of seats had gone vacant in the PG counselling held for the last academic session.

    The reduction in cut-off marks will be by 25 percentile across all categories, official sources told PTI.

    The decision has been taken based on recommendations by the National Medical Commission (NMC), they said.

    Around 1,400 seats had remained vacant mainly in pre- and para-clinical subjects in the last session, the sources said.

    “Since such post-graduate seats going vacant is a sheer wastage of resources in a country where postgraduate medical seats are premium, a decision to reduce cut-off for admission to post-graduate courses for 2022 23 by 25 percentile across all categories has been taken,” an official source said.

    In a meeting held on October 14, the NMC recommended a reduction in the qualifying percentile for post-graduate courses for 2022.

    Going by the reduction of cut-off marks by 25 percentile across all categories, the revised qualifying percentile/cutoff for general category candidates would be 25 percentile, for people with disabilities in the general category (PWD-general) it would be 20 percentile, and 15 percentile for both the SC/ST/OBC and people with disabilities in the SC/ST/OBC category, an official source said.

    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday approved lowering the cut-off marks for admission to PG medical courses for 2022-23 while taking into consideration that a large number of seats had gone vacant in the PG counselling held for the last academic session.

    The reduction in cut-off marks will be by 25 percentile across all categories, official sources told PTI.

    The decision has been taken based on recommendations by the National Medical Commission (NMC), they said.

    Around 1,400 seats had remained vacant mainly in pre- and para-clinical subjects in the last session, the sources said.

    “Since such post-graduate seats going vacant is a sheer wastage of resources in a country where postgraduate medical seats are premium, a decision to reduce cut-off for admission to post-graduate courses for 2022 23 by 25 percentile across all categories has been taken,” an official source said.

    In a meeting held on October 14, the NMC recommended a reduction in the qualifying percentile for post-graduate courses for 2022.

    Going by the reduction of cut-off marks by 25 percentile across all categories, the revised qualifying percentile/cutoff for general category candidates would be 25 percentile, for people with disabilities in the general category (PWD-general) it would be 20 percentile, and 15 percentile for both the SC/ST/OBC and people with disabilities in the SC/ST/OBC category, an official source said.

  • MBBS books in local languages soon, NMC to take lead role

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh may be the first state to roll out textbooks in Hindi for medical students, but medicine will soon be taught in the country in regional languages as well. The High Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages under the Ministry of Education has already initiated dialogues with the National Medical Commission (NMC), state medical councils, medical universities and colleges and also doctors and professors, on preparing medical syllabus in Hindi and other regional languages, Chamu Krishna Shastry, the committee’s chairman, told this newspaper.

    Shastry said that the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University Vice Chancellor, Dr Sudha Seshayyan M.S., has already started preparing a glossary on medical terms in Tamil.  He added that Home Minister Amit Shah will release the country’s first MBBS syllabus in Hindi for students on October 16. Hopefully, other states will follow suit, he said.

    “They (MP) have prepared textbooks for first-year MBBS students. They are working on preparing the rest of the medical course books. The main aim is to bring medical textbooks in Hindi and other regional languages,” Shastry added. While teaching in English will continue, students will have the option to study both  in Hindi and their regional language.

    The idea behind the initiative is that 90 per cent of patients don’t know English. “A large section of the students also come after having studied in their mother tongue, and all of a sudden, when they start medical education in English medium they find it difficult to comprehend medical language,” Shastry added.

    “Students from rural areas would like to work in their hometowns or villages. So we will be able to create a workforce catering to rural healthcare facilities. The quality of the books won’t be compromised,” Shastry said. 

    However, the plan has drawn flak from the medical fraternity. Dr Rohan Krishnan, president, FAIMA Doctors Association, said that it will affect the students adversely. “Medical education needs to be at par with international guidelines and bodies,” he said, adding that students will get confused and the quality will fall.

    Dr Furquan Ahmad, former joint secretary of Resident Doctors Association, RML, tweeted, “Teaching MBBS in Hindi is a regressive step. Hyper Nationalism is the root cause. Tomorrow, they will demand to launch it in Sanskrit, but what’s the point of writing English words in Devnagari script for political agenda? NMC is a complete failure.” 

    Dr Manish Jangra, FAIMA founding member, said doctors, after completion, will find themselves unfamiliar with guidelines and will have to depend on poor salaries.

    NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh may be the first state to roll out textbooks in Hindi for medical students, but medicine will soon be taught in the country in regional languages as well. The High Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages under the Ministry of Education has already initiated dialogues with the National Medical Commission (NMC), state medical councils, medical universities and colleges and also doctors and professors, on preparing medical syllabus in Hindi and other regional languages, Chamu Krishna Shastry, the committee’s chairman, told this newspaper.

    Shastry said that the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University Vice Chancellor, Dr Sudha Seshayyan M.S., has already started preparing a glossary on medical terms in Tamil.  He added that Home Minister Amit Shah will release the country’s first MBBS syllabus in Hindi for students on October 16. Hopefully, other states will follow suit, he said.

    “They (MP) have prepared textbooks for first-year MBBS students. They are working on preparing the rest of the medical course books. The main aim is to bring medical textbooks in Hindi and other regional languages,” Shastry added. While teaching in English will continue, students will have the option to study both  in Hindi and their regional language.

    The idea behind the initiative is that 90 per cent of patients don’t know English. “A large section of the students also come after having studied in their mother tongue, and all of a sudden, when they start medical education in English medium they find it difficult to comprehend medical language,” Shastry added.

    “Students from rural areas would like to work in their hometowns or villages. So we will be able to create a workforce catering to rural healthcare facilities. The quality of the books won’t be compromised,” Shastry said. 

    However, the plan has drawn flak from the medical fraternity. Dr Rohan Krishnan, president, FAIMA Doctors Association, said that it will affect the students adversely. “Medical education needs to be at par with international guidelines and bodies,” he said, adding that students will get confused and the quality will fall.

    Dr Furquan Ahmad, former joint secretary of Resident Doctors Association, RML, tweeted, “Teaching MBBS in Hindi is a regressive step. Hyper Nationalism is the root cause. Tomorrow, they will demand to launch it in Sanskrit, but what’s the point of writing English words in Devnagari script for political agenda? NMC is a complete failure.” 

    Dr Manish Jangra, FAIMA founding member, said doctors, after completion, will find themselves unfamiliar with guidelines and will have to depend on poor salaries.

  • NMC prescribes new rules for AYUSH doctors 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Ayush doctors will no longer be able to prescribe allopathic medicines, if a proposal by the National Medical Commission (NMC) passes muster with the government.  India’s apex regulator of medical education and medical professional has recommended barring doctors from prescribing medicines from branches they are not trained in. The proposal is part of the draft of Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulation 2022, released by NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board a few days ago for public consultations.

    According to the NMC’s proposal, a person qualified in more than one system of medicine can decide which one to practise. Once licensed to practise modern medicine under NMC Act, the person shall not practise any other system of medicine simultaneously. Short courses in other treatment systems do not qualify a practitioner to practise that branch of medicine, it says.

    The proposal runs counter to the government’s push for an integrated system of medicine. Several states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have allowed AYUSH doctors to run primary and community health centres where they can prescribe and dispense allopathic drugs. This is prompted by a shortage of doctors in rural areas. 

    According to the rural health statistics report for 2020 released by Union Health Ministry , 8,709 AYUSH doctors were posted at 25,140 rural primary health centres and 541 at 5,481 community health centres. However, medical experts have been dead against ‘mixopathy’ and have been pushing for discontinuing the practice which allows AYUSH – Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy – practitioners to prescribe modern medicines.

    “There is no unanimity and coherence between states, Central government and within the NMC on this issue. Medical practice is a lawless issue in India,” said Dr Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, a former member of the erstwhile Medical Council of India and dean of Patna-based Aryabhatta Knowledge University.

    “The government wants to make Ayurveda a panacea for all ills, which it is not,” he added. The need of the hour was to adopt a realistic policy and not one that promotes quackery, he said, adding that substituting MBBS doctors with AYUSH practitioners was “a remedy worse than the disease”. Dr J A Jayalal, former president of Indian Medical Association, said. “There is a difference between integration and mixing of the two systems.” 

    Can practise only what a person is trained in

    NMC’s proposal says a person qualified in more than one system of medicine can decide which one to practise. Once licensed to practise modern medicine under NMC Act, the person shall not practise any other system of medicine simultaneously.

    Tough conditions put by medical regulator

    Short courses in other treatment systems do not qualify a practitioner to practise that branch of medicine, the proposal released for public comments by India’s apex regulator of medical education and medical professional says

  • National Medical Commission blinks on new norms for PG medical education

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission has agreed to make significant changes to the draft post-graduate medical education regulations 2021 bill, which had proposed common counselling for all institutions on the basis of national rankings but did not fix a minimum stipend for junior residents. Several doctors’ bodies, including the Indian Medical Association, had been demanding multiple changes in the proposed regulations.

    Senior officials at the Commission met representatives of the IMA on Thursday and accepted suggestions to modify various contentious clauses.  For example, the draft had proposed common Central counselling for admission in all medical educational institutions for all PG broad specialty courses (diploma, MD and MS) based on the merit list of the National Exit Test (NEXT). The Commission agreed to amend it to provide for simultaneous counselling at both national and state levels for their respective quotas by competent authorities without disturbing state reservation.

    It also accepted a proposal to specify a minimum stipend. IMA president J A Jayalal, who participated in Thursday’s meeting, told this newspaper that while PG residents are paid up to Rs 1,00,000-1,10,000 as monthly stipend in some states, the figure is  as low as Rs 15,000 elsewhere.

    “If the purpose of the Commission is to usher sweeping changes such as uniformity in examination and syllabus, it should also ensure that our PG residents are paid uniform remuneration,” he said.  The Commission has also agreed to relook the draft proposal to introduce a mandatory three-month residency for PG students in district hospitals. Jayalal pointed out that as district hospitals do not have teachers, it will not substantially aid the learning of PG students. He suggested that the training period be brought down to one month from the proposed three months. 

    The Commission has now assured that the eligibility of super specialty courses for various disciplines will be subject to an expert group’s opinion. Also, faculty with PhD will be given special consideration. And the NEXT exam improvement will be allowed on an yearly basis. All these are part of the modifications to the draft bill released last month. 

    NEXT exam from 2023The NEXT exam — the common examination for final year MBBS students that will also double up as an entrance test for PG medicine courses — is set to begin from 2023