Can common drugs be made Cheaper?
BY KSHITISH J DIVATIA
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1)I am very glad to learn about an initiative taken by Governor Shwarzeneger in California MEDICAL CARE FOR ALL
He has suggested measures to reduce cost of hospital care and Doctor’s fees. Another area where cost reduction is possible is THE COST OF COMMON DRUGS.
The drugs commonly prescribed by doctors and available at the Pharmacy as well at hospital dispensing counters can be categorized as follows :
Patent and Proprietary drugs which are patented, Generic drugs which are now patent expired., and Over – the –counter drugs which are available without a prescription
More than 50 % of the drugs used for common ailments are now off the patent and are available as generic drugs. These drugs are now manufactured by a number of manufacturers and are available at cheaper prices due to competition..
Except for a few highly specialized new products, most of the patented drugs can also be substituted by generic drugs. All doctors and Hospitals should be asked to prescribe these generic drugs wherever possible.
Proprietary drugs are actively promoted to the doctors and hospitals, as they give a much higher margin of profit to the manufacturer. A National Formulary of equivalent generic drugs should be made available to the medical profession to enable them to prescribe them as far as possible. In USA Price Control at the national level is difficult to implement for generic drugs. However if prescriptions are generated with generic drugs, more manufacturers will be interested in manufacturing or importing them. The efficacy of generic drugs can well be controlled by FDA. With competition amongst manufacturers and pharmacists the prices can be considerably reduced and the patients will benefit by it.. Insurance companies and Government agencies engaged in healthcare will also welcome this move.
Over-the- counter drugs cost can also be considerably minimized by reducing unnecessary advertisements and promoting them directly to pharmacies.
These are some suggestions worth considering and recommending them to Governor Schwarzeneger fo implementation in California.
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2)Mind and Matter
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Ever since Man started thinking, there was a deep desire to solve the mystery of the mind. Before the advent of modern science there was a clear demarcation between Mind and Brain. When we talk of the body, mind and soul, we consider body as a physical entity and Soul as spiritual. The nature of mind remains undefined. When a person dies obviously the body and all its functions die. But the mind, as a part of the subtle body, is assumed to be carrying the individual’s impressions of life with it. The scientific community generally prefers to think that mind may not exist as a separate entity as there is no definite sensory proof for the existence of mind.
Western philosophers believe that the mind is non-material and does not belong to the physical body.. The mind is considered to be part and parcel of the soul and it definitely has a non-material existence. If that is so, how can the mind that is non-material control the body without having any physical connection.. It is beleved that mind can control the body through the brain and once the brain becomes nonfunctional the mind should get disconnected with the body.
The Brain can very well be compared with a Computer, which can process information, analyse and store information. Mind can control both brain and the computer. If Mind is not physical how can it control both physical instruments – Brain and the Computer ?
If mind is non-material, how can it function ?
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Another extreme position taken by empirical scientists is that mind is just a function of the brain and dies with death of the body and brain.
Vedantic thinkers do not subscribe to this view as mental functions include intelligence and Ego which Computers cannot have. If brain can be compared to a computer as Computer scientists do including artificial intelligence, does it also have an ego ?
This is a dilemma which scientists have not yet been able to resolve.Mind is also said to be a reservoir of “samskaras”, a technical term for inherent tendencies, which define human character and fate or destiny. According to Vedanta, only Self is real – As Shankaracharya says – “ Brahma satyam Jagat mithya” Hence, mind which is not Self or Soul, is also made of matter – however subtle it may be.
The brain is made of gross matter and is a part of the body – this is the real difference between brain and mind. Just as a computer needs energy input, the brain gets its energy input from the mind which in turn derives its energy from the soul. Thus mind can be considered as a subtle form of matter which controls and also gives energy to the human brain and body.
( Writer is a former Chief Executive of 'Sarabhai Chemichals', Baroda, India. He had also worked as a consultant in the pharmaceutical industries. He is also deep thinker.)

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