Why do doctors prefer particular brands of medicines?

No.. it's not a debate on generic vs branded. It's branded vs branded. As a modern person everyone likes to be up to date with latest brands whether they're wearbles or fashions or technologies or appliances. We make our surroundings full of latest things. Now a days nobody wants even android 9 phones when android 12 is knocking the door. That's all the psychological tricks a brand creates on mass.

In case of healthcare why should we fall behind? Let there be new horizon for medical science too. Day by day we encounter a plenty of news regarding medical technologies and that's why everyday new molecular networks are built to overshadow the existing. In this race ultimately we obtain a novel thing which minimises our discomforts more aggressively. That's the need of time. In this case we can't deny the efficiency of old one but we get newer options to compete and competition is always beneficial to consumers. So more will be the options better will be the scope for selection.

Now get back to doctors and medicines. We always believe that doctors who prescribe branded drugs get commissions from those brands of pharma companies. Yes it's a truth but it is a half truth. To earn is not the solo purpose for a doctor for choosing a brand. A doctor also confirms the results of that medicine. If a doctor sees the benifits to his patients, it will be the primary parameter to choose that brand. Later one is just complimentary. Because if you just prescribe costly medicines for comission and don't concentrate on the patient's comfort, your commission business won't last long. So doctors must have to prioritize the patient satisfaction at any cost.

A doctor using a particular brand for a particular class of medicine enhances trust on it and this trust is converted into patient satisfaction. Even with the same Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient(API) two different brands may produce different type of results due to the difference in formulation and excipients. Actually this differences don't alter the basic pharmacological action but determine the intensity of the action. One type of formulation and excipient may propagate better bioavailability and quick onset of action over other brand of same API which makes the difference to choose the particular brand for particular patient.

The same principle lies into generic medicines. So the use of particular brands by doctors is not a crime. But when they see only profit over patient satisfaction, it definitely turns into a scam. Tie ups between pharma companies and doctors are known worldwide. Both are dependent on each other. But when both of them put ethics aside, the character of the profession is questioned.

As we discussed erlier all we want latest things in life so why don't we let the doctors decide the most latest and beneficial medicine for us by keeping cost in mind? Though it's a seperate topic to minimise the medicine bill of a patient but it should be also in doctor's mind that patient should be cured physically but don't make ill his or her economy. Sometime we'll discuss on the medical bills on this blog if possible. Let your questions be poured in comments.

Final Funda: A doctor was prescribing generic medicines to his patient. Suddenly patient's iphone rang and patient received the call. Meanwhile doctor erased the generic medicines and wrote costly branded medicines instead.

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