Doctors’ Awareness of DPCO Bypassing and Availability of Single-Molecule Antibiotics: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Main Article Content
Keywords
DPCO (Drug Price Control Order), Antibiotic Availability, Pharmaceutical Formulation Bypassing, Doctors' Awareness, Price Control Consequences.
Abstract
The Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) in India aims to improve the affordability of essential medicines. However, the extent to which practising doctors are aware of pharmaceutical strategies used to bypass DPCO and the real-world availability of single-molecule DPCO-controlled antibiotics remains unclear. This cross-sectional survey was conducted exclusively among doctors, including General Practitioners, Dermatologists, Surgeons, and Gynaecologists. The questionnaire assessed awareness of DPCO, awareness of bypassing practices, and doctors’ experiences regarding the availability of single-molecule antibiotics such as doxycycline HCl 100 mg. The findings revealed that most doctors were unaware of pharmaceutical practices used to bypass DPCO price controls. A small proportion of doctors who were aware reported significant difficulty in obtaining plain single-molecule DPCO antibiotics from pharmacies, which preferentially stocked combination formulations. Some respondents reported that strict insistence by the prescribing doctor was often required to ensure the availability of single-molecule DPCO medicines for patients. The study highlights a gap between DPCO policy intent and on-ground medicine availability, driven primarily by limited awareness among doctors and pharmacy-level stocking practices rather than prescriber intent.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Dr Navin Modi
Mbbs, DVD, Mumbai University
MODI DIAGNOSTIX,
SKIN HAIR SEXUAL MEDICINE CLINIC, A/O 108, NAV EVEREST TOWERS , KALYAN WEST , Thane, Maharashtra, India
Dr Manish Kadam
Prof dermatology Parbhani medical college , R. P HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CENTER, Parbhani Maharashtra, India
Dr M. Rajesh Appaji
Mbbs, DVD, Mumbai University
Senior Dermatologist,
Skin Care Center,
