The Modi Government has come out with a draft — Uniform Code for Medical Device Marketing Practices — to check the bribing of doctors by the pharma and medical devices companies.
According to the document, “No gifts, pecuniary advantages or benefits in kind shall be supplied, offered or promised to persons qualified to use, prescribe or supply medical devices, by a medical device company or any of its agents.”
The code also bars gifting for the personal benefit of doctors and their family members (both immediate and extended) perks such as tickets to entertainment events.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals — under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers — has released the draft and sought feedback from the industry representatives by April 15.
“This is a voluntary code for the present and its implementation will be reviewed after a period of six months from the date of its issue. If it is found that it has not been implemented effectively by the Pharma Associations /Companies, the Government may consider making it a statutory code,” the 16-page draft document said.
“Companies or their associations/representatives or any person acting on their behalf shall not extend any travel facility inside the country or outside, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets, paid vacations, to healthcare professionals and their family members for vacation or for attending the conference, seminars, workshops, CME programme as a delegate.
It is hereby clarified that in any seminar, conference or meeting organised by a pharmaceutical company for promoting a drug or disseminating information, if a medical practitioner participates as a delegate, it will be at his/her own cost. Companies will be asked to “not pay any cash or monetary grants to any healthcare provider for individual purpose in individual capacity under any pretext.”
The code states: The companies will be allowed to occasionally provide modest, appropriate educational items to doctors that “benefit patients or serve a genuine educational function for HCPs. Also, companies may occasionally provide modest, appropriate brand recall items that are reasonable in value and frequency. “However, the value of such brand recalls items/ brand reminders shall not exceed Rs 1,000.”
“Free samples of drugs shall not be supplied to any person who is not qualified to prescribe such product. Where samples of products are distributed by a medical representative, the sample must be handed directly to a person qualified to prescribe such product or to a person authorised to receive the sample on their behalf,” it said.