Search

Background: Costly health-care expenditure is a serious concern in overall worldwide health-care system. Increased usage of generic medicines can improve affordability of the health-care delivery system without compromising the quality. However, prescribing pattern of generic medicine has always been a matter of controversy, as there has been discrepancy regarding generic medicine selection amongst doctors. The assessment of doctor’s perceptions and knowledge about generic medicines can help in recognizing possible barriers to better generic medicine usage. Aim and Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate knowledge and attitude toward generic medicines among resident and intern doctors at tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Gujarat. Pre-validated, self-developed questionnaire was distributed in the form of Google document to assess knowledge, attitude, and prescribing pattern of generic drugs among interns and residents. Appropriate statistical tests were applied for analyzing collected data. Results: A total of 223 candidates responded comprised 124 interns (55.6%) and 99 residents (44.4%). Out of total respondents, 42 (18.9%) respondents agreed to the statement that “generic drugs have more side effects as compared to branded drugs,” whereas 71.3% agreed that they would recommend generic drugs for specific chemoprophylaxis. Conclusion: Majority of doctors found to be having good knowledge and positive attitude toward usage of generic drugs. Majority of doctors found to be having good knowledge and positive attitude toward usage of generic drugs, nevertheless, accountable number of doctors found to be lacking knowledge in regulatory and technical aspects of pharmacokinetic and bio-equivalence parameters of generic drugs. An educational program or seminars should be conducted to enhance the knowledge of and promote the practice of generic medicines in tertiary care teaching hospital.

Background: Drug utilization studies are one of the key tools to provide basis for making evidence-based health-care decisions. Ophthalmology is the field in which there have been many drug developments in recent years. There are different classes of drug products available for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. Given the scenario, such assessment in the form of drug utilization study supports to upgrade the quality of prescription. Nevertheless, such studies are less frequently done in Gujarat and hence this study was undertaken. Aim and Objective: This study aims to study drug utilization trends and patterns of prescription and in the ophthalmology outpatient department at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Ahmedabad. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted over the duration of 2 months, collecting in total 203 prescriptions, in the ophthalmology department of a tertiary care teaching hospital, Ahmedabad. Relevant information about the prescriptions were recorded and analyzed using the WHO prescribing indicators and additional indices. Results: Prescription scrutiny of 203 patients revealed that number of drugs per prescription was 2.61. Among the prescribed drugs, the most commonly prescribed were ocular lubricants (28.11%) followed by antimicrobials (15.84%) and anti-histamines (15.28%). Conspicuously, the most common prescribed dosage form were eye drops (68.3%), followed by tablets (26.79%), ointments (4.33%), and capsules (0.56%). Fluoroquinolones were the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials (74.4%) followed by aminoglycosides (13.6%) and cephalosporins (8.8%). Conclusion: We concluded that ocular lubricants, antibiotics, and anti-histamines topped the prescribing pattern in this study with restrain on multidrug use.

Biopolymers or natural polymers are an attractive class of biodegradable polymers since they are derived from natural sources, easily available, relatively cheap and can be modified by suitable reagent. Locust bean gum is one of them that have a wide potentiality in drug formulations due to its extensive application as food additive and its recognized lack of toxicity. It can be tailored to suit its demands of applicants in both the pharmaceutical and biomedical areas. Locust bean gum has a wide application either in the field of novel drug delivery system as rate controlling excipients or in tissue engineering as scaffold formation. Through keen references of reported literature on locust bean gum, in this review, we have described critical aspects of locust bean gum, its manufacturing process, physicochemical properties and applications in various drug delivery systems.

A large number of plant based pharmaceutical excipients are available today. Gums and mucilages are the most commonly available plant ingredients with a wide range of applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. They are being used due to their abundance in nature, safety and economy. They have been extensively explored as pharmaceutical excipients. They are biocompatible, cheap and easily available. Natural materials have advantages over synthetic ones since they are chemically inert, nontoxic, less expensive, biodegradable and widely available. They can also be modified in different ways to obtain tailor-made materials for drug delivery systems and thus can compete with the available synthetic excipients. Recent trend toward the use of plant based and natural products demands the replacement of synthetic additives with natural ones. In this review, we describe the pharmaceutical applications of various natural gums, mucilages and their modified forms for the development of various drug delivery systems.

The administration of probiotic bacteria for health benefit has rapidly expanded in recent years, with a global market worth $32.6 billion predicted by 2014. The oral administration of most of the probiotics results in the lack of ability to survive in a high proportion of the harsh conditions of acidity and bile concentration commonly encountered in the gastrointestinal tract of humans. Providing probiotic living cells with a physical barrier against adverse environmental conditions is therefore an approach currently receiving considerable interest. Probiotic encapsulation technology has the potential to protect microorganisms and to deliver them into the gut. However, there are still many challenges to overcome with respect to the microencapsulation process and the conditions prevailing in the gut. This review focuses mainly on the methodological approach of probiotic encapsulation including biomaterials selection and choice of appropriate technology in detailed manner.