Freebies for doctors. Break the nexus with pharma companies

Dwindling medical ethics have been a cause for worry in India for quite some time. Among other malpractices, there has been an unhealthy nexus between some members of the medical fraternity and pharmaceutical companies. Thus, the Medical Council of India’s new code aimed at curbing the practice of accepting freebies by doctors from companies is more than welcome. The MCI’s amended code of conduct will include not accepting any gifts or travel facility from any pharmaceutical company and the healthcare industry.

Gone are the days when gifts given to doctors were customary and confined to merely desktop calendars or pen stands. Today pharmaceutical companies, aggressively pushing their products in the market, offer freebies to doctors that range from expensive items to foreign junkets. Though the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association has devised codes of ethical marketing practices, the ground reality leaves much to be desired. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad too has talked about the unholy nexus and admitted that some doctors, influenced by pharma companies, do prescribe expensive medicines though cheaper options are available in the market. While the Medical Council had been asking for stricter guidelines, the government is even considering a Bill to prohibit doctors from accepting gifts from drug companies in return for favours.
However, the new code can address the problem only if it is accepted by the medical professionals without reservations. As it is, the existing rules are being flouted. The IMA code of conduct states that physicians have to write prescriptions of medicine with their generic names. Yet the rule is often not followed. To ensure that the natural trust deficit between the medical fraternity and patients is not eroded any further, doctors would have to take a call. If only they pay heed to the Hippocratic oath and the MCI code more regulations would perhaps not be required.

Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.

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