> Branded medicines over generic: How the market is putting patients in a bind : - Despite multiple guidelines and notifications from authorities, doctors and clinics are continuing to prescribe branded medications without suggesting generic alternatives - For 26-year-old Lakshmi, a construction worker from north Karnataka currently residing in Uttarahalli in Bengaluru, finding medication for her three-year-old who had a viral infection became Herculean task. The reason was that a brand of medicine prescribed by a general physician in the area was not available in any of the neighbourhood medical stores.