Two years later, the government has decided to sharpen its glare on the marketing practices of pharmaceutical firms amid reports of these companies offering a range of freebies to doctors to promote their medicines.
The department of pharmaceuticals, under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, has sought expenditure details from these companies on distribution of free samples, and expenses incurred on organising conferences, workshops, training and seminars, as part of a broader initiative to curb unethical marketing practices by drugmakers.
The department of pharmaceuticals has written to drugmakers seeking expenditure details on distribution of free samples, and expenses incurred on organizing conferences and workshops, as part of a broader initiative to curb unethical marketing practices. The particulars must be filed on ongoing basis and mandatorily within two months of every financial year, the department said, in a communication seen by Mint.
In the case of distributing free samples, the department has sought details of month, year, monetary value of the samples, details of recipient and domestic sales revenue of the particular drug. In the case of events, the authorities have asked for details including month, year, total number of events and expenditure incurred.
Queries sent to the department of pharmaceuticals remained unanswered till press time.
A senior executive at Micro Labs, maker of Dolo, said the 2022 matter remains under investigation. “The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the company and they found out that some amount of money was spent on marketing practices by Micro Labs in the last eight years… We have given all the data to ED and we are supporting them,” the executive said on the condition of anonymity.
The move comes after several pharmaceutical companies were found to be offering freebies like luxury holiday packages, travel and monetary benefits, among others, to doctors to promote their medicines, prompting the government to notify the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices 2024 in March to ensure that these companies don’t resort to unethical means to promote their medicines.
The code bars drugmakers from offering freebies such as gifts, travel, hospitality and monetary benefits to the doctors for prescribing a particular medicine.
What experts say..
Industry stakeholders have broadly welcomed the government’s move.
“IDMA is in favour of adopting ethical practices in all aspects of business. Ethical marketing practices are important and we stand by them. We already have necessary committees in place for the compliance. Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices was there since 2014 and got amended in 2024,” said Viranchi Shah, president of Mumbai-based Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA).
Dr. R.V. Ashokan, national president of the Indian Medical Association, said that the private body of physicians is in the process of updating the ethics guidelines for doctors.
“We are upgrading the issue of ethics for doctors and guidelines are under preparation. We are also drafting ethical guidelines for hospitals for the first time in India. We will release our ethics document on 2 October this year,” he added.
Any industry where patient care is involved, they should follow medical ethics and no business should be followed, Dr. Ashokan said.
Dr. Raman Kumar, national president of the Academy of Family Physicians of India, a grouping of 2,500 physicians, said that UCPMP’s intent is good, and that promotion of a drug through unethical practices is wrong. However, “There should be a system where professionals and industry can work together in a transparent way, for example- for research purpose… This regulation is absolutely fine, however, we should learn from the developed economies of the world where they have stringent laws but still they are able to work with the industry,” Dr. Kumar added.
India’s pharmaceutical industry is projected to more than double to $130 billion by 2030, from $50 billion currently. It is expected to reach $65 billion by the end of 2024.
In July, Mint reported that the government had extended the deadline till the end of that month for pharma company bosses to file their legal self-declarations assuring the government that they will not indulge in unethical marketing practices to promote their drugs.