Generic substitution of drugs to be introduced in 2010

UK doctors will be drawn into new efforts to boost cost effective prescribing in the next few months as part of a deal agreed this month between the government and industry.

The newly revised pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (PPRS), designed to cut the overall NHS drug bill by about 5% in its five year life, will result in two initiatives to change current prescribing practice.

The first initiative, to be phased in by 2010, introduces generic substitution, which is designed to save costs directly by ensuring that pharmacists switch from any branded drugs named on prescriptions to cheaper generic alternatives unless a doctor ticks a …