Type Generic Observing

Observing intermediate values helps to understand what is going on when your program runs. Gill presented an observation method for lazy functional languages that preserves the program's semantics. However, users need to define for each type how its values are observed: a laborious task and strictness of the program can easily be affected. Here we define how any value can be observed based on the structure of its type by applying generic programming frameworks. Furthermore we present an extension to specify per observation point how much to observe of a value. We discuss especially functional values and behaviour based on class membership in generic programming frameworks

India's product patent protection regime: Less or more of "pills for the poor"?

The year 2005 marks the end of transition period for many developing countries with competent pharmaceutical sectors that competed in supplying generic versions of patented drugs to LDCs before, thereby inducing price competition and enhancing access to medicines. In a post-2005 scenario, the critical issue is whether LDCs without adequate manufacturing capabilities can make use of compulsory licensing expeditiously to induce price competition and secure lower prices. This paper uses empirical evidence collected during a firm-level survey of the Indian pharmaceutical sector to generate evidence on emerging strategies of firms. It shows that the vigour of compulsory licensing as a price-leveraging instrument post-2005 is incumbent mainly on its economic feasibility. It shows that Indian firms view the market potential (in terms of market size and profits involved in such supply, especially if they have to make specific technological investments to produce the drug) of the mechanism much more severely than before, and may be less inclined to engage in such production if their commercial expectations are grossly unmet. The analysis assesses implications of emerging strategies of firms in the Indian pharmaceutical sector for access to medicines both domestically and internationally, and highlights the challenges involved.product patents, Indian pharmaceuticals, generics, access

Evaluating probabilistic forecasts with scoringRules

Probabilistic forecasts in the form of probability distributions over future events have become popular in several fields including meteorology, hydrology, economics, and demography. In typical applications, many alternative statistical models and data sources can be used to produce probabilistic forecasts. Hence, evaluating and selecting among competing methods is an important task. The scoringRules package for R provides functionality for comparative evaluation of probabilistic models based on proper scoring rules, covering a wide range of situations in applied work. This paper discusses implementation and usage details, presents case studies from meteorology and economics, and points to the relevant background literature

Knowledge, attitude and practices of rural medical practitioners on generic medicines

Background: An unqualified medical practitioner without any formal registration and practicing allopathic medicine in rural areas in India can be called Rural Medical Practitioner (RMP). RMPs enjoy a great deal of practice in rural areas by taking advantage of lacunae in the public health system. Government of India is currently popularising generic medicines, but still certain doubts exist even among doctors and how far the RMPs are aware of generic medicines is a big issue. They influence a lot of uneducated people, so the knowledge, attitude and practices they follow have a large impact on society.Methods: A cross sectional, prospective study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and the practices of 152 RMPs on generic medicines for a period of three months. A 23-item questionnaire was well designed, pre-validated and distributed to RMPs in and around Guntur district. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics.Results: 92% of the participants were aware of generic drugs. More than 80% believed that they are equivalent in terms of efficacy and safety to their branded counterparts and are available at reasonable prices. 95.4% RMPs believed that prescribing generic drugs will decrease the pharmaco-economic burden of the country. Almost all of them agreed on the need for the updates and education on generics by means of continuing medical education (CMEs).Conclusions: The participants had good amount of knowledge on generic drugs but there are concerns regarding quality and therapeutic efficacy of generic drugs. Proper awareness about the generic prescription practice may improve the patient compliance by reducing economic burden to the patients

Knowledge, attitude and practice of generic medicines among doctors in a tertiary care teaching hospital of Tripura, India

Background: The assessment of doctors’ perceptions and understanding about generic medicines may help in recognizing possible barriers to greater generic medicine usage. The primary objective of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of doctors toward generic medicines.Methods: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary-care teaching hospital of Tripura. The questionnaire was designed to assess the KAP about generic medicines. The doctors working in this institute during the study period were included. All data were analysed using statistical software for epidemiology (EPI6). P <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: 67.5% doctors agreed to the fact that generic medicines were intended to be interchangeable with a branded drug (p=0.0003). Among the doctors, 95% were aware that generic drug manufacturers need to conduct studies to show bioequivalence between the generic medicine and their branded counterparts (p <0.0001). Majority of the doctors (82.5%) were of the view that generic medicines were as safe as that of branded drugs (p <0.0001). 97.5% of the doctors agreed that importance of generic medicines should be taught in early part of internship. 75% doctors did not think that switching a patient from a brand-name to generic drug may change the outcome of the therapy (p <0.0001). 92.5% doctors said that they prescribe generic medicines (p <0.0001).Conclusion: The study showed that the doctors were well aware of generic medicines and Jan Aushadhi scheme of Govt. of India. It was also observed that efficacy, safety and quality profile of the medicine were the most important factors considered by doctors when they prescribe drugs

Antitrust Enforcement Against Pharmaceutical Product Hopping: Protecting Consumers or Reaching Too Far?

Pharmaceutical drugs are the backbone of modern medicine, which makes the continued development of new drugs essential and puts many lives in the hands of the brand-name pharmaceutical companies that develop these new treatments. Currently, antitrust litigation is being used to strike a balance between the innovator’s right to earn a profit and the need for generic drug companies to make these drugs available to the masses that need them. Antitrust law stops brand-name companies from taking over the market and excluding generics, but it should not be used to impose harsh remedies that restrict the thing that we all rely upon: brand-name companies’ motivations to innovate. The federal districts are split on this issue, and although the facts differ in each case, the courts agree that the presence of consumer coercion is what differentiates permissible competitive strategies by brand-name companies from impermissible, anticompetitive product hopping. Intertwined with the issue of product hopping is how to remedy it. While fines are an appropriate penalty, the Second Circuit’s injunction that forced a brand-name company to continue manufacturing a discontinued and possibly outdated drug is unprecedented and threatens the very thing society must protect—brand-name companies’ abilities to innovate. Product-hopping litigation shows no signs of slowing down, and between the Second Circuit’s far-reaching injunction and the growing possibility of a circuit split, the time is right for the United States Supreme Court to take up product-hopping litigation and issue an affirmative ruling that allows generics to provide people the drugs they desperately need, while also providing brand-name pharmaceutical companies the ability and motivation to continue innovating

A study on assessment of awareness on generic drugs among doctors in a tertiary care teaching hospital in north India

Background: The assessment of doctors’ perceptions and understanding about generic medicines may help in recognizing the key areas which may act as hurdle to mass scale use of generics. The primary objective of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of doctors toward generic medicines.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using a pretested questionnaire in a tertiary care teaching hospital of Jammu (J and K). The questionnaire was designed to assess the KAP about generic medicines. The doctors working in this institute during the study period were included. Data was compiled and analysed using online website, http://www.graphpad.com. P-values of < 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance.Results: A 62.9% doctors agreed to the fact that generic medicines were intended to be interchangeable with a branded drug (p=0.0139). Among the doctors, 77.5% were aware that generic drug manufacturers need to conduct studies to show bioequivalence between the generic medicine and their branded counterparts (p =0.0001). 88.8% of the doctors agreed that importance of generic medicines should be taught in early part of internship. 80.9% doctors did not think that switching a patient from a brand-name to generic drug may change the outcome of the therapy (p <0.0001).Conclusion: The present study showed that a good percentage of doctors were well aware of generic medicines’ usage. However due to concerns expressed by a certain fraction of participants, further work is needed on how interventions for medical professionals and for the public can lead to increase in the awareness and acceptability of generic medicines