Doctors dispensing medications: Contemporary India and 19th century England

Iris Kapil

Social Science & Medicine, 1988, vol. 26, issue 7, 691-699

Abstract: In developing countries the widespread use of medications in ways that are unsafe and inappropriate is a threat to health and a waste of scarce resources. It is possible that doctors contribute to the problem when, as in rural India, the doctor earns a living by selling medications rather than by charging a consultation fee and writing a prescription; the incentive is to medicate irrespective of the diagnosis. In this article, doctor-patient roles and paying for the doctor's services in a South Indian town are described. Similarities between the town and 19th century England in regard to doctor-patient roles are noted and analyzed.

Keywords: medications; dispensing; doctor's; role (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1988
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