Provide details of doctors ‘given’ freebies by Dolo 650 maker, 5 other pharma companies: NMC to I-T dept

India

pti-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
05:
The
National
Medical
Commission
(NMC)
has
sought
from
the
Income
Tax
Department
details
of
doctors
who
allegedly
received
freebies
from
six
pharma
companies
including
Dolo
650
maker
Micro
Labs
against
whom
raids
were
conducted
last
month.

The
Central
Board
of
Direct
Taxes
(CBDT),
the
administrative
body
for
the
I-T
department,
in
July
had
accused
the
makers
of
the
widely-used
Dolo-650
tablet
of
indulging
in
“unethical
practices”
and
distributing
freebies
of
about
Rs
1,000
crore
to
doctors
and
medical
professionals
in
exchange
for
promoting
its
products.

The
Income
Tax
department
had
on
July
6
raided
36
premises
of
Bengaluru-based
Micro
Labs
Ltd.
across
nine
states.
In
a
letter
on
Aug
3,
the
NMC
requested
CBDT
chairperson
Nitin
Gupta
to
“send
the
names
along
with
registration
number
and
addresses
of
doctors
involved
so
that
those
details
may
be
forwarded
to
state
medical
councils
concerned
for
information
and
necessary
action”.

In
the
letter
Dr
Yogender
Malik,
member
of
the
NMC’s
Ethics
and
Medical
Registration
Board
(EMRB),
drew
attention
to
section
6.8
of
the
Indian
Medical
Council
(Professional
Conduct.
Etiquette
and
Ethics)
Regulations,
2002.
as
amended
from
time
to
time,
which
prescribes
code
of
conduct
for
doctors
in
their
relationship
with
pharmaceutical
and
allied
health
sector
industry.

It
is
apposite
to
mention
here
that
in
the
first
instance,
any
complaint
regarding
professional
misconduct
by
a
registered
medical
practitioner
is
to
be
dealt
by
the
state
medical
council
concerned,
he
said.
“I
would
like
to
emphasise
that
Ethics
and
Medical
Registration
Board
(EMRB),
National
Medical
Commission
is
committed
to
bring
ethics
in
lives
of
registered
medical
practitioners
and
won’t
tolerate
any
misconduct,”
Dr
Malik
stated.