Madam, – Your Editorial on prescriptions (November 20th, 2009) rightly states that “Irish doctors have a poor record of prescribing generics”.
Switching entirely to generics could, in theory, result in significant savings. However, reality differs from theory. Prescribing generically simply results in a generic prescription being written. It does not necessarily result in a generic drug being dispensed.
So long as the dispensing pharmacist has the discretion to choose which brand of drug to stock, they retain the power to dispense whichever brand has the highest margin for them. Doctors have a role to play, but pharmacy reform must come first. – Yours, etc,