CDSCO Proposes Ban on Same Brand Name for Different Drugs to Prevent Confusion
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has proposed a rule to stop pharmaceutical companies from using the same brand name for medicines that contain different active ingredients. The regulator says this practice can mislead patients and create confusion about the medicines' uses.
Public comments on the proposal are invited until July 17, according to a notice issued by the CDSCO. The proposal follows complaints that some companies market drugs with different active ingredients under a single established brand name.
The Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC), which examined the issue, recommended wider stakeholder consultation before a final decision. The DCC observed that using identical brand names for medicines with different active ingredients could confuse consumers and healthcare professionals about the therapeutic use of the medicines.
Dr Neeraj Nischal, Professor at the Department of Medicine, AIIMS, said umbrella branding is generally safe when products share the same active ingredient, such as different strengths or dosage forms. However, he noted that extending the same parent brand to unrelated medicines increases the risk of prescribing, dispensing and patient errors.
Dr Rommel Tickoo, Director of Internal Medicine at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, added: “A brand name should represent a specific medicine, not a family of unrelated drugs. Using the same parent brand for medicines with different active ingredients can confuse patients and healthcare professionals, increasing the risk of medication errors.”
If implemented, the proposal would require many pharmaceutical companies to revise their branding strategies for products marketed under a common parent brand across different therapeutic categories.
The CDSCO has uploaded the committee's recommendations on its website and invited comments from industry, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders.
