Is your doc being bribed to suggest medicines? by Rema Nagarajan

Dear Friends, I came across a good article, "Is your doc being bribed to suggest medicines?" by Rema Nagarajan in Times of India. I was really moved when I read the details about the details. I know many of you may have read this but I am giving the article here so that those who missed it can go through it & express their thoughts on the topic.

A platinum coupon if you prescribe drug ‘X’ to 10 patients. A gold coupon if you prescribe brand ‘Y’ to 25. The more coupons you get, the greater your chances of winning. The prizes: a car, frostfree refrigerators, TV sets, digital cameras and silver coins.

If you knew your doctor was a contestant for these prizes, how confident would you feel that what has been prescribed to you is what you need, not what improves his chances in the contest?

Such contests for doctors are not unknown in India. In one such case, 100 doctors who topped the prescribers’ charts from cities like Ahmedabad, Chennai, Alwar, Belgaum, Ambala and Agra participated in a lucky draw and were awarded publicly by the Gujarat-based Torrent Pharmaceutical.

The same company let some other doctors and their families sample Turkish cuisine and culture in Istanbul as part of an international symposium on metabolic medicine. Another lot from 12 metros splashed around in the best water parks in their cities courtesy the same company.

This company has also not spared expenses in helping ‘educate’ doctors to decide which drugs to prescribe — it took a batch of Lankan doctors on a safari to Kenya for ‘education’. These aren’t allegations — the information is available on the company’s own website. Here’s how it described the Istanbul junket: ‘‘Torrent has once again raised the bar in offering a perfect combination of knowledge sharing and hospitality in the pharma industry’’.

Of course, drug manufacturers are no strangers to handing out gifts to doctors. A pharma representative told TOI his firm’s Delhi operation has earmarked an annual budget of Rs 2 crore for freebies for doctors in the Capital alone. This does not include gifts and trips abroad.

 

Pharma doles for docs against IDMA norms

In a case of pharma firms doling out freebie for doctors prescribing their drugs, it has been learnt that the Delhi operation of pharma company has earmarked an annual budget of Rs 2 crore for freebie for doctors in the Capital alone. And this is just one company’s budget. There are hundreds of such companies with comparable, and sometimes bigger, budgets.

Should this be legal? Several countries have brought in legislation to crack down on unethical marketing practices, and the penalties are stiff. Drug companies have had to cough up millions as fines in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. Over 25 medical centres including prestigious ones like Harvard Medical School, Yale University, University of California and the Stanford School of Medicine have put in place strong policies that include zero tolerance for company gifts and free meals.

In India, however, we have vague assurances of self-regulation by the drug industry and reliance on doctors’ ethics. Both the associations of drug manufacturers in India, the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) and Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) on paper have a code of ethics for marketing practices with detailed procedure for registering and examining complaints.

However, OPPI Director General Tapan Ray refused to divulge the number and the nature of the complaints or what action was taken.

The Federation of Medical Representatives Associations of India (FMRAI) had sent a complaint against Torrent with evidence to the IDMA. ‘‘Forget about acting on our complaint, IDMA has not even acknowledged receipt of the complaint,’’ says Amitava Guha, joint general secretary of FMRAI.

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GIANTS WHO HAD TO SWALLOW A BITTER PILL

Biotech firm Cephalon had to pay $425 million.

Charge | Company gave millions of dollars of grants to continue medical education (CME) programmes to promote off-label use of its drugs; gave illegal kickbacks to physicians

Neurosurgeon Patrick Chan had to pay $1.5 million

Charge | Took hefty kickbacks from medical-device suppliers

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company had to pay $515 million

Charge | Paid illegal remuneration to physicians and healthcare providers in the form of consulting fees and travel to luxurious resorts. In return they promoted BMS drugs.

Five orthotics companies accounting for nearly 95% of hip and knee surgical implants in the US paid $310 million

Charge | Paid surgeons thousands of dollars per year as consulting contracts and on lavish trips and expensive perks to get them to choose their products 

 

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It is really shame on the  pharma companies that are involved in these events. They should become aware of their responsibility towards the society & its betterment instead of betterment of the doctors. After reading this article what is your opinion? What do you have to say, have you any more details or some more such cases then feel free to give it in your comments & feedback.