Doctors Prohibited From Attending Events Sponsored By Pharmaceutical Companies
This is in addition to doctors being required to prescribe generic names of medicines to patients, according to new regulations.
The National Medical Commission announced new regulations relating to professional ethics for medical practitioners, which include prohibiting doctors from attending any medical workshops or conferences that are directly or indirectly sponsored by pharmaceutical or allied health sector companies.
"Registered medical practitioners and their families must not receive any gifts, travel facilities, hospitality, cash or monetary grants, consultancy fee or honorariums, or access to entertainment or recreation from pharmaceutical companies or their representatives, commercial healthcare establishments, medical device companies, or corporate hospitals under any pretext," the commission said in a gazette notification dated Aug. 2.
Doctors should also not be involved in any third-party educational activities like seminars, workshops, symposia, conferences, etc., which involve direct or indirect sponsorships from pharmaceutical companies or the allied health sector under the regulations. "Medical practitioner should be aware of the conflict-of-interest situations that may arise."
While cash or monetary grants, consultancy fee or receiving honorariums are prohibited, the regulations stated that this provision is not applicable to salaries and benefits that doctors may receive as employees of these organisations.
This is in addition to doctors being required to prescribe generic names of medicines to patients, according to new regulations under Section 8. It stated that generic names should be written legibly and drugs should be prescribed rationally, avoiding unnecessary medications and irrational fixed-dose combination tablets.
The Medico-Legal Society of India—an all-India association of doctors and medico-legal experts—has already requested a revision to this clause in a written letter to the Prime Minister and Central Health Ministry, according to a Hindustan Times report.
The new regulations aim at closing all loopholes that would lead to direct or indirect benefits accruing to medical practitioners from pharmaceutical or allied healthcare sector companies, hoping to ensure drug prescriptions are free of bias or influence.
Different levels of penalties have also been prescribed based on severity of contravention, including suspension of licence of practice.
