Quote of the day: On educating consumers on Generics Law

"There must be continuing education on Generics Law. Our consumers have yet to fully appreciate the value for money offered by generic substitutes. Our doctors and public health institutions must not negate the spirit of this law by failing to live up to their duty to inform their patients, particularly the poor, about generic substitutes."


- Senator Mar Roxas, on his sponsorship speech on Senate Bill No. 2263 to make the laws on patents, trade names and trade marks more responsive to the health needs of the Filipino people delivered at the Senate session hall on August 16, 2006.

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pinoypharmacist's comment:


Former BFAD Director, Quintin L. Kintanar, M.D., Ph.D., in recognizing the role of pharmacists, said that "Under the Generics Act of 1988, the pharmacist is not only a dispenser of drugs. He is also a teacher; he has been given the responsibility of informing the consumer what are the available generically-equivalent drug products and their prices."

He also said that "To discharge this responsibility properly the pharmacist himself must be professionally competent and must also be well-informed on the provisions of the Generics Act and the current developments in the pharmaceutical field."

Further, A.O. No. 63 series of 1989 requires drugstores, botica and other drug outlets "To inform the patient/buyer of all available drug products generically equivalent to the one prescribed with their corresponding prices. In so doing, the drug outlet shall not favor or suggest any particular product so that the patient/buyer may fully and adequately exercise his option to choose." (Section 3)

So, you see how confident and ready the government was about the role of pharmacists when they drafted the implementing rules of the Generics Act. It seems, however that WE WERE THE ONES WHO ARE NOT READY.

But wait... Although Michael Tan (in his article, Generics again) observes that " drugstores don't always inform consumers about the possible choices", he admits that he "sees some hopeful signs around generics" based on his own experiences in buying medicines.

Reference:
http://news.inquirer.net/common/print.php?index=2&story-id=53269&site-id25&col=81