Even as the Union Health Ministry is planning to bring out a legislation to break the cash-or-gift-for-prescription nexus between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, the Medical Council of India (MCI) is going ahead to decide the nature and quantum of punishment to be imposed on doctors caught accepting considerations in cash or kind from pharma companies.

MCI chairman Dr Ketan Desai said that this would now be thrashed out in the MCI general body meeting on March 12 and 13.

Not that the doctors bodies have been too eager about it. On the face of it, it took three years and many reminders from the MCI to all medical associations, even to notify this regulation in the official gazette a few months ago.

"MCI had approached all national medical associations in India, including those of physicians, nephrologists and gynaecologists and cardiologists, in an attempt to come up with this new regulation. We had started this process in 2007. We sent no less than four official reminders to these associations, none of them responded," said the MCI chief.