Background: In the present day world the expenditure on medicines is very high. Most of the people in developing countries find it difficult to afford expensive medicines. One of the measures to cut down the expenditure on medicines is to use generic drugs. Hence the study was taken up to know the awareness, attitude and preference for generic drugs among medical and non medical persons.Methods: The study was done on 290 participants. 60 medical interns, 30 doctors, 50 nurses, 50 non medical staff (clerks and attenders) and 100 patients were included. They were given a questionnaire to know the awareness and knowledge on generic drugs, willingness to prescribe (among doctors) and use it (non medical staff and patients).Results: This study showed that all medical persons- doctors, interns and nurses knew about generic drugs whereas 60% of non medical staff and 95% of the patients were not aware about it. All doctors had good knowledge about generic drugs and 80% prescribed it always. 70% of the patients depended on what doctors prescribed for them and never asked for generic/ branded drugs in particular. 70% non medical staff preferred it only sometimes.Conclusions: The awareness among non medical persons is poor than medical persons among the surveyed population. Hence adequate measures should be taken to increase awareness and knowledge among public so that they become imperative enough to ask their doctors to prescribe generic drugs.

Objectives:To study the effect of nebivolol 5 mg once daily versus (S)-atenolol 25 mg once daily in patients with essential hypertension.Materials and Methods:A prospective study was conducted at RLJH and Research Centre which included 30 patients in each group with essential hypertension. The sex, age, presenting illness, and family history of the patients were recorded. Investigations such as blood sugar, urine analysis, kidney function test, lipid profile, and ECG were performed before starting the treatment. Any adverse effects during the treatment were noted. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded at baseline and during follow-up. One group received nebivolol 5 mg once daily and other group (S)atenolol 25 mg once daily. Patients were followed-up every 15 days for 3 months.Results:Nebivolol group had 18 males and 12 females with mean age 50.6 ± 9.5 years, (S)-atenolol had 16 males and 14 females with mean age 54.4 ± 9 years. Patients receiving nebivolol and (S)-atenolol showed a significant fall (P <·0001) in systolic (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate at the end of first, second, and third month when compared to baseline. The difference in fall in SBP and DBP was insignificant between the groups, but fall in heart rate was significant (P <·0001). Adverse effects such as headache, dizziness, and fatigue were reported with both drugs.Conclusion:Reduction of blood pressure with nebivolol and (S)atenolol was similar, but fall in blood pressure from baseline was highly significant in both groups.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disorder and major global public health problem. Lack of adherence to antidiabetic medication has lead to suboptimal blood sugar control, treatment failure, accelerated development of complications and increased mortality, thus medication adherence plays an important role in disease control. Hence present study was taken to evaluate the treatment adherence and factors affecting non adherence among Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Methods: A cross sectional study carried out by Department of Pharmacology and Medicine, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan. Total 150 patients of type 2 diabetes were recruited after taking their informed consent. Adherence to treatment and factors associated with non adherence has been assessed during a personal interview with each patient using standardized questionnaire.Results: Adherence levels were 28%, 42% and 30% for high, medium and poor adherence respectively. The overall prevalence of non adherence among respondents was 30%. Among them 77.77% were males, 44.44% belonged to age group of 41-60 years, 40% illiterate, 60% employed, 51.11% of patients with smoking and alcoholic habits were not adherent to anti diabetic treatment. Other reasons contributing to non-adherence to treatment were forget fullness (86.66 %), inadequate knowledge about side effects (80%), unhappy clinical visits (71.11 %) and lack of assistance (48.88 %).Conclusions: Results showed that patients in the area of study were moderately adherent to anti-diabetic medications. This emphasizes the need for constant motivation and education at frequent intervals to ensure better adherence.

Cancer persists to be a major cause of hospitalization and death every year. With the passage of time, new formulations of anticancer drugs are being introduced to the market and are drawing the concern of healthcare professionals in terms of the superiority, toxicology, and cost-effectiveness of the new formulations in comparison to the conventional formulation of the same drugs. Doxorubicin, a highly potent chemotherapeutic agent, it comes with three formulations (pegylated liposomal, nonpegylated liposomal and non-liposomal conventional formulations). English-language literature of the three formulations of Doxorubicin has been reviewed to inform the healthcare professionals regarding the differences between these formulations. Liposomal Doxorubicin promotes better toxicology profile than non-liposomal conventional Doxorubicin with an increased cost. Due to very limited studies, the cost-effectiveness of liposomal Doxorubicin is not well defined. Apart from that, this review highlights the inter patient variability in regard to the clearance and volume of distribution following the administration of liposomal Doxorubicin. In conclusion, further studies regarding the superiority of liposomal formulation of Doxorubicin , efficacy and dose standardization of liposomal Doxorubicin should be sought in the near future in a more better way.

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