Despite the government claims that Prescription Audit Committees are in place in J-K, most of the Jammu and Kashmir hospitals continue to witness mass medications.
Experts believe that main reasons behind the mass medication include strict implementation of the Prescription Audit Report, medical corruption and freebies given to doctors.
Influenza expert and DAK president Dr Nisar Ul Hassan while talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that implementation of prescription audit will ensure quality of the care and safety of the patients and more importantly it will do away with the irrational prescription.
He said that prescription is dictated by pharma companies because they provide commissions to the doctors and doctors prescribe unnecessary medications also.
“If you are visiting a doctor with viral infections, he will load your prescription with antibiotics and such drugs instead of giving relief have adverse effects on patients,” he said. “If these drugs are given for a longer time, patients become prone for other diseases as well as they destabilize the gut flora which is very important to maintain your body against many infections.”
Several other doctors said that unnecessary medicines and sometimes low quality medicines are being prescribed on account of freebies which mostly cause adverse effects and even remain ineffective due to low quality.
They said that unnecessary and extensive use of antibiotics have promoted the emergence and proliferation of resistant bacteria and other pathogens, along with rising AMR, which in turn has resulted in inadequate treatment of common infections and such consequences necessitate the exploration of a variety of ways to combat this expanding issue of resistance.
Meanwhile, a top health official said that a prescription audit is already in place and every effort is being taken to ensure that no unnecessary drugs are being prescribed.
He said that there may be some discrepancies but the government is working to ensure strict implementation of PAC.
Spokesperson Directorate of Health Services Kashmir (DHSK) Dr Mir Mushtaq said that this is an ongoing process and is being implemented on ground level.
He said that just a percentage of prescriptions is being audited as of now and random checking is being conducted.
“If there is any discrepancy, we will take action accordingly,” he said, adding that proper checking is going on in major hospitals, district and sub-district hospitals. (KNO)
