Correspondence

Kotwani et al1 in their study have shown poor availability of generic drugs in the public sector in all the five States under study. The prices of medicines in the private sector were about 3-5 times the procurement price in the public sector and possibly there is a lot of margins for manufacturer, wholesalers and retailers. So patient remains the ultimate sufferer and the cost of healthcare keeps increasing. They also discussed some approaches required for price regulation in the market, but missed a very important aspect. In recent years there has been an increase in the interaction between doctors and pharmaceutical industries which is likely to threaten our fundamental professional responsibility and undermines publi