Brand versus generic prescribing: a perspective of the Indian cardiologists' viewpoint.

Pretested mail survey questionnaires consisting of four close-ended, six open-ended questions and an "anonymous prescribing" exercise were sent to 612 members of the Cardiological Society of India. This was done to assess their opinion regarding generic prescribing, to record the incidence of generic prescribing for digoxin and furosemide and to evaluate the extent of comprehension of novel terminology like bioequivalence, generic equivalence and therapeutic equivalence. The majority of the responders opted for brand prescribing and mentioned that substitution by a pharmacist was not acceptable. The reputation of the firm, availability and ease of remembering the name, cost and impact of medical representative were, in descending order, the reasons for the option of a specific brand name. The innovator's brand of digoxin (Lanoxin) was prescribed by 59% while 37% wrote the generic name. Lasix was the most often prescribed (77%) brand of furosemide. Comprehension of the novel terms was not related to years of practice or to the place of practice. The need for evaluation of brands encountered by the prescriber in future studies on brand versus generic prescribing has been emphasized.