PHARMA SPONSORED TRIP MCI DEREGISTERS DOCTOR FOR ONE YEAR-IS IT A CORRECT OR NEED REFORM ?

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The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has suspended a senior orthopedic surgeon from Safdarjung Hospital for a period of 275 days from the State Medical Registrar.DMC received a complaint on the alleged professional misconduct. 

            Dr Girish Tyagi, Registrar, DMC told, "In December 2012, the DMC through its disciplinary committee examined a complaint from the HR Manager of Primus Hospital, alleging professional misconduct on the part of Dr Bhatia who had attended revision course of OLC Hong Kong, as a sponsored candidate of private company purporting to be an orthopedic surgeon at Primus Hospital. However, Dr Bhatia has never worked with Primus Hospital."

        "During investigation in 2014, Dr Bhatia was suspended for three months after he was found guilty of unethical practices on the professional front. Then in 2014, the complainant moved to the Medical Council of India (MCI) for further inquiry in the case.But MCI instead of giving relief to Doctor increase his suspension for one year and DMC had kept a close watch on this matter and therefore after thorough probe by the disciplinary committee, increased their suspension for 9 months more after ruling of central MCI.As said doctor being a Government doctor hide his government post and showed him as doctor attached to the complainant  private hospital during foreign tour.Thus Doctor has been suspended till July 2019," he said.

                    Most interesting phenomena happened when Lok Sabha MP, Jyoti Mirdha's wrote letter to PM and raised question in Parliament citing an instance of 15 doctors of Madhya Pradesh flying to England and Scotland with their spouses and relatives (totalling 30 people) for an eight-day tour between March 24 and March 31. It is alleged that Ahmedabad-based pharma company, Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited, paid for the trip. The documents attached with the letter, show that the total cost only of just flight tickets for 30 people amount to over Rs 17 lakh. The itinerary of the trip carries the logo of Intas Pharmaceuticals. 

                     To make the rules stringent for doctors, MCI amended the code of ethics on December 10, 2009. A new section—6.8.1—was added. It says: A medical practitioner shall not accept any travel facility inside the country or outside, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets and paid vacations from any pharmaceutical or allied healthcare industry or their representatives for self and family members for vacation or for attending conferences, seminars, workshops, CME programme etc as a delegate.” It adds that a medical practitioner shall not accept individually any hospitality like hotel accommodation for self and family members under any pretext.For taking gifts between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000, a doctor is issued a censure and suspended from practice for six months.If a doctor accepts gifts worth over Rs 50,000 and up to Rs one lakh, his or her license can be suspended for one year and if the gifts cost over Rs 1 lakh, he can be suspended for more than a year.

                However, the pharmaceutical companies who pay the doctors are insulated from any punishment. Pointing out this loophole Mirdha says in her letter: “While MCI rules bar doctors from accepting gifts, tickets, hospitality from healthcare industry, there are no corresponding obligations on the part of drug industry not to offer such freebies and face penal action in case of violations.”Even Logo of the company used but Company and doctors attending said that travelling company has applied it by mistake and doctors travelled paying from their pocket.

           The 45th parliamentary standing committee report, of which Mirdha was a member, recommended that appropriate regulations be added to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to forbid the pharmaceutical manufacturers from offering such freebies that are prohibited under MCI rules. It was released on May 8. But no action has been taken by the DoP on the suggestion. “A non-binding toothless code on marketing practices has been proposed which will not address the issue at all,” Mirdha adds.

                       This is an open fact that medical representative visit most of the Doctors for promotion of their pharamceutical products and try to influence doctor explaining their benefits on ground of pharmacology and cost and even Doctors need to know different medicines available in market for ease of procuring by patients as in our country medicine is sold by commercial name mostly except in few generic counters even there too commercial names of generic are used.

                       Bad part of this lies in fact that These Pharma companies also provide Doctors many gifts too as pen,pad,cosmetic item,mobile phone,scenary,calender,diary etc and organise seminars inside hospitals or near by clubs,big hotels or resturants, farm house with cocktail dinner or lunch in name of Continue medical education programme.Most of Doctors programme as Annual day of Association or their speciality annual or bianual conferences,their alumini or picinic or even Medical Student union meet or even scientific programme of a hospital or a medical college or even a Medical Science Mela / Fare  is directly or indirectly supported by Pharma companies either helping by advertising in their souvenirs or by putting stalls around such meet or a direct talk of an expert on subject where indirect promoting of their product is done.

                              It is well known fact that Pharma companies manage country or foreign tours for doctors why favour them hughly  as stated above but MCI or DCI takes action where a complain is filed as they themselves cant see or hear as our Supreme Court takes cognizance of some crime itself.MCI or Doctor's Associations issue nice orders but hardly  takes action so this evil is spreading.

                          Again why so much restriction and detterent on Doctors only,when print media,electronic media or social media cant exist without any advertisement.When Engineers,Research scholars,Literary festivals, Businessmen, industrialist ,media conferences,scientist meet,lawyers aggregation and university and college students organise their programme with the help of open and wide advertisement and sponsoring companies than why doctors and pharma companies are soft targets only ?

                        If pharma companies sell their product by meeting or sponsoring Doctors or their association  than what is wrong here ? Every product start from soap,to rice,wheat,tv,refrigerator,mobile phone,,land plots,flat  etc are being  sold by hugh advertisement spending almost 50% of their income on advertisement. Regarding price than it is printed there and no body can charge excess than that,Person have choice to choose any one which one likes as one choose a tv channel to watch.If pharma companies are keeping price very inflated than what is price of generic than where is government ? why they are given license to operate in country,their price is very open.One one hand our PM will invite them to invest in our country and manufacture and sell product after going through all pharmaceutical and other Government checks and on other hand punish their main person a Doctor who can writ their product cannot be accepted,

                        if Government think with the  mind set that costly medicines are due to Doctors or hospitals than it is wrong.if Government thinks so Government should keep fixed price of every formulation produced by any company and fix fee of every doctor as per their qualification,rate of every treatment or operation in every hospital as per their tier or facilities but as it cant fix price of soap,shoes,tv,mobile,computers than how it can fix medicnes ? So,fixing it by blocking and punishing Doctors with a charge of bribe if any pharma company meets them for favoring their product cant be justified and it is high time that Doctors and their different  association should fight Government to come clean on such controversies as Doctors should not be blamed for costly and un affordable treatment as it is Government and it's policy is responsible Doctor as an ordinary resident always abide by the constitution of our country.

               Many time our health administrators write Doctors tow write Generic Names only but why ? why they are allowing any pharma company to be in India and manufacture and sell medicines with commercial names? Are all ethics and their implementation on shoulder of Doctors only or is this the process of following of an ethics where roots are allowed to grow but branches and stems are cut ?

                 AS a Doctor or Hospital what you think regarding such problem of Doctors in our country?please wrtie few comments.