Facts: RA 6675 requiring the use of generic names in all transactions related to purchasing,

prescribing, dispensing and administering of drugs and medicines. Petitioners, officers of

Philippine Medical Association assailed the constitutionality of the said statute and petitioned
for declaratory relief. Court treated it as petition for prohibition. Petitioner’s argument of the
RA favouring private sector and giving the act of prescribing the correct medicine a duty of
the salesgirl were all stricken down as misinterpretation of the RA.
Issue: Whether or not Republic Act 6675 (Generics Act of 1988), requiring the use of
generic names in all transactions relating to drugs and medicines constitutional?
Decision: Petition dismissed for lack of merit. Generics Act of 1988 constitutional. RA 6675
secures the patient the right to choose between the brand name and its generic equivalent
since his doctor is allowed to write both the generic and the brand name in his prescription
form. The respondent is implementing the constitutional mandate of the State “to protect
and promote the right to health of the people” and “to make essential goods, health and
other social services available to all the people at affordable cost.”