Impossible: Dolo 650 manufacturer on Rs 1000 crore marketing budget

India

oi-Deepika S

New
Delhi,
Aug
19:
Bengaluru-based
pharmaceutical
company
Micro
Labs
Limited
on
Friday
termed
allegations
that
it
had
gifted
freebies
worth
Rs
1000
crore
to
doctors
to
promote
its
Dolo-650
tablets
as
“baseless
and
incorrect”.

“It
is
impossible
for
any
company
to
spend
Rs
1000
cr
on
the
marketing
of
a
brand
which
did
350
cr
in
the
Covid
year.
That
too
when
Dolo
650
comes
under
NLEM
(price
control),”
said
Jayaraj
Govindaraju,
Executive
Vice
President,
Marketing
and
Communication,
Micro
Labs
Limited
told
ANI.

The
Supreme
Court
on
Thursday
described
as
a
“serious
issue”
the
matter
raised
by
an
NGO
relating
to
the
CBDT’s
allegation
against
the
makers
of
Dolo
tablets
that
they
had
distributed
freebies
worth
about
Rs
1,000
crore
to
doctors
for
prescribing
their
650
mg
anti-inflammatory,
fever
reducer
drug.

Senior
advocate
Sanjay
Parikh
alleged
that
to
ensure
a
higher
profit
margin,
the
company
manufacturing
Dolo
tablets
distributed
freebies
to
doctors
to
prescribe
the
650
mg
drug.
The
advocate
also
said
he
would
like
to
bring
more
such
facts
to
the
knowledge
of
the
court
after
a
response
is
filed
by
the
Centre.

The
Central
Board
of
Direct
Taxes(CBDT)
had
on
July
13
accused
the
makers
of
the
Dolo-650
tablet
of
indulging
in
“unethical
practices”
and
distributing
freebies
worth
about
Rs
1,000
crore
to
doctors
and
medical
professionals
in
exchange
for
promoting
products
made
by
the
pharmaceutical
group.

The
claims
were
made
after
the
Income
Tax
department
had
on
July
6
raided
36
premises
of
the
Bengaluru-based
Micro
Labs
Ltd.
across
nine
states.