‘Pharma firm distributed Rs 1000 crore freebies to prescribe Dolo 650mg tablets’: SC informed
7 min readBy PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday was informed by an NGO that the Central Board of Direct taxes has accused the Pharma firm manufacturing widespread Dolo tablets, an anti-inflammatory, fever reducer drug, of distributing Rs 1000 crore freebies to medical doctors for prescribing a dosage of its 650 mg tablets.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was informed by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh and advocate Aparna Bhat, showing for petitioner ‘Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Association of India’, that the market value of any pill as much as 500mg is regulated beneath value management mechanism of the federal government however the value of drug above 500mg could be mounted by producer Pharma Company.
He mentioned that to make sure the next revenue margin, the corporate distributed freebies to medical doctors to prescribe the Dolo drug of dosage 650mg capability.
Parikh added that it’s an “irrational dose combination” and mentioned that he want to convey extra such info to the data of the court docket after a response is filed by the Centre.
Justice Chandrachud mentioned, “What you are saying is music to my ears. This is exactly the drug that I had when I had COVID recently. This is a serious issue and we will look into it”.
The bench requested Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj to file his response to the plea in ten days and gave one week time thereafter to Parikh to file his rejoinder.
It listed the matter for additional listening to on September 29, 2022.
A counsel sought permission from the court docket to file an intervention on behalf of the Pharma corporations, which the court docket allowed saying it want to hear them additionally on the problem.
On March 11, the highest court docket agreed to look at a plea searching for route to the Centre for formulating a Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices to curb unethical practices of Pharma corporations and guarantee an efficient monitoring mechanism, transparency, accountability in addition to penalties for violations.
The prime court docket had mentioned that it needs to know what the federal government has to say on this difficulty.
Parikh had mentioned that this is a crucial difficulty within the public curiosity and there’s a latest judgement by this court docket which mentioned that bribe-giver or bribe-taker each are prohibited.
He had submitted that Pharmaceutical corporations are saying that they aren’t liable because the bribe-takers are the medical doctors and in overseas nations, they’ve laws to curb these unethical advertising and marketing practices.
Parikh mentioned that the federal government ought to look into it and the code ought to be made statutory in nature as “we all know what happened with Remdesivir injections and other drugs of those combinations”.
The prime court docket had then requested the petitioner why cannot a illustration to the federal government be made to which Parikh had mentioned they’ve already finished it.
He had mentioned that they’ve been pursuing the problem with the federal government since 2009 and until the time the federal government comes out with the code to manage, this court docket might lay down some pointers.
The plea filed by advocate Aparna Bhat sought route that until an efficient regulation is enacted as prayed, this Court might lay down the rules to manage and regulate unethical advertising and marketing practices by pharmaceutical corporations or within the various make the prevailing Code binding with correct and cheap modifications/additions, which ought to be adopted by all of the authorities/courts beneath Articles 32, 141, 142 and 144 of the Constitution.
The plea added that the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations of 2002 prescribe a Code of conduct for medical doctors of their relationship with the pharmaceutical and allied well being sector business, and prohibit acceptance of items and leisure, journey services, hospitality, money or financial grants by medical practitioners from Pharmaceutical corporations.
“This Code is enforceable against doctors, however, does not apply to drug companies, leading to anomalous situations where doctors’ licenses are cancelled for misconduct which is actuated, encouraged, aided, and abetted by pharma companies. The pharma companies go scot-free”, it added.
The plea mentioned that although termed as ‘gross sales promotion,’ in reality, direct or oblique benefits are provided to medical doctors (as items and leisure, sponsored overseas journeys, hospitality, and different advantages) in change for a rise in drug gross sales.
It mentioned that unethical drug promotion can adversely affect medical doctors’ prescription attitudes and hurt human well being by over-use/ over-prescription of medication, prescription of upper doses of medication than essential, prescription of medication for an extended interval than essential, prescription of a better variety of medicine than essential and prescription of an irrational mixture of medication.
It mentioned that pharmaceutical corporations use high-pressure promotion practices to lure physicians to prescribe irrational mixture medicine to generate huge gross sales.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday was informed by an NGO that the Central Board of Direct taxes has accused the Pharma firm manufacturing widespread Dolo tablets, an anti-inflammatory, fever reducer drug, of distributing Rs 1000 crore freebies to medical doctors for prescribing a dosage of its 650 mg tablets.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was informed by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh and advocate Aparna Bhat, showing for petitioner ‘Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Association of India’, that the market value of any pill as much as 500mg is regulated beneath value management mechanism of the federal government however the value of drug above 500mg could be mounted by producer Pharma Company.
He mentioned that to make sure the next revenue margin, the corporate distributed freebies to medical doctors to prescribe the Dolo drug of dosage 650mg capability.
Parikh added that it’s an “irrational dose combination” and mentioned that he want to convey extra such info to the data of the court docket after a response is filed by the Centre.
Justice Chandrachud mentioned, “What you are saying is music to my ears. This is exactly the drug that I had when I had COVID recently. This is a serious issue and we will look into it”.
The bench requested Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj to file his response to the plea in ten days and gave one week time thereafter to Parikh to file his rejoinder.
It listed the matter for additional listening to on September 29, 2022.
A counsel sought permission from the court docket to file an intervention on behalf of the Pharma corporations, which the court docket allowed saying it want to hear them additionally on the problem.
On March 11, the highest court docket agreed to look at a plea searching for route to the Centre for formulating a Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices to curb unethical practices of Pharma corporations and guarantee an efficient monitoring mechanism, transparency, accountability in addition to penalties for violations.
The prime court docket had mentioned that it needs to know what the federal government has to say on this difficulty.
Parikh had mentioned that this is a crucial difficulty within the public curiosity and there’s a latest judgement by this court docket which mentioned that bribe-giver or bribe-taker each are prohibited.
He had submitted that Pharmaceutical corporations are saying that they aren’t liable because the bribe-takers are the medical doctors and in overseas nations, they’ve laws to curb these unethical advertising and marketing practices.
Parikh mentioned that the federal government ought to look into it and the code ought to be made statutory in nature as “we all know what happened with Remdesivir injections and other drugs of those combinations”.
The prime court docket had then requested the petitioner why cannot a illustration to the federal government be made to which Parikh had mentioned they’ve already finished it.
He had mentioned that they’ve been pursuing the problem with the federal government since 2009 and until the time the federal government comes out with the code to manage, this court docket might lay down some pointers.
The plea filed by advocate Aparna Bhat sought route that until an efficient regulation is enacted as prayed, this Court might lay down the rules to manage and regulate unethical advertising and marketing practices by pharmaceutical corporations or within the various make the prevailing Code binding with correct and cheap modifications/additions, which ought to be adopted by all of the authorities/courts beneath Articles 32, 141, 142 and 144 of the Constitution.
The plea added that the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations of 2002 prescribe a Code of conduct for medical doctors of their relationship with the pharmaceutical and allied well being sector business, and prohibit acceptance of items and leisure, journey services, hospitality, money or financial grants by medical practitioners from Pharmaceutical corporations.
“This Code is enforceable against doctors, however, does not apply to drug companies, leading to anomalous situations where doctors’ licenses are cancelled for misconduct which is actuated, encouraged, aided, and abetted by pharma companies. The pharma companies go scot-free”, it added.
The plea mentioned that although termed as ‘gross sales promotion,’ in reality, direct or oblique benefits are provided to medical doctors (as items and leisure, sponsored overseas journeys, hospitality, and different advantages) in change for a rise in drug gross sales.
It mentioned that unethical drug promotion can adversely affect medical doctors’ prescription attitudes and hurt human well being by over-use/ over-prescription of medication, prescription of upper doses of medication than essential, prescription of medication for an extended interval than essential, prescription of a better variety of medicine than essential and prescription of an irrational mixture of medication.
It mentioned that pharmaceutical corporations use high-pressure promotion practices to lure physicians to prescribe irrational mixture medicine to generate huge gross sales.
