SUSPENDED LICENSE

The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has suspended a senior orthopedic surgeon from a Hospital for a period of 275 days from the State Medical Registrar. DMC received a complaint on the alleged professional misconduct. Registrar, DMC told, “In December 2012, the DMC through its disciplinary committee examined a complaint from the HR Manager of a private hospital, alleging professional misconduct on the part of doctor who had attended revision course of OLC Hong Kong, as a sponsored candidate of private company purporting to be an orthopedic surgeon at a private Hospital. However, he has never worked with that hospital.” “During an investigation in 2014, the doctor was suspended for three months after he was found guilty of unethical practices on the professional front. Then in 2014, the complainant moved to the Medical Council of India (MCI) for further inquiry in the case. But MCI instead of giving relief to doctor increase his suspension for one year and DMC had kept a close watch on this matter and therefore after a thorough probe by the disciplinary committee, increased their suspension for 9 months more after the ruling of central MCI. As said doctor being a Government doctor hide his government post and showed him as doctor attached to the complainant private hospital during the foreign tour. Thus he has been suspended till July 2019,” he said. Most interesting phenomena happened when Lok Sabha MP, wrote a letter to PM and raised the question in Parliament citing an instance of 15 doctors of Madhya Pradesh flying to England and Scotland with their spouses and relatives (totaling 30 people) for an eight-day tour between March 24 and March 31. It is alleged that Ahmedabad-based pharma company, paid for the trip. The documents attached with the letter, show that the total cost only of just flight tickets for 30 people amount to over Rs 17 lakh. The itinerary of the trip carries the logo of that pharmaceuticals. To make the rules stringent for doctors, MCI amended the code of ethics on December 10, 2009. A new section—6.8.1—was added. It says: A medical practitioner shall not accept any travel facility inside the country or outside, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets and paid vacations from any pharmaceutical or allied healthcare industry or their representatives for self and family members for vacation or for attending conferences, seminars, workshops, CME programme etc as a delegate.” It adds that a medical practitioner shall not accept individually any hospitality like hotel accommodation for self and family members under any pretext. For taking gifts between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000, a doctor is issued a censure and suspended from practice for six months. If a doctor accepts gifts worth over Rs 50,000 and up to Rs one lakh, his or her license can be suspended for one year and if the gifts cost over Rs 1 lakh, he can be suspended for more than a year. However, the pharmaceutical companies who pay the doctors are insulated from any punishment. Pointing out this loophole says in her letter: “While MCI rules bar doctors from accepting gifts, tickets, hospitality from the healthcare industry, there are no corresponding obligations on the part of drug industry not to offer such freebies and face penal action in case of violations.”Even logo of the company used but Company and doctors attending said that traveling company has applied it by mistake and doctors traveled paying from their pocket. The 45th parliamentary standing committee report, of which she was a member, recommended that appropriate regulations be added to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to forbid the pharmaceutical manufacturers from offering such freebies that are prohibited under MCI rules. It was released on May 8. But no action has been taken by the DoP on the suggestion. “A non-binding toothless code on marketing practices has been proposed which will not address the issue at all,” Mirdha adds. This is an open fact that medical representative visit most of the Doctors for promotion of their pharmaceutical products and try to influence doctor explaining their benefits on ground of pharmacology and cost and even Doctors need to know different medicines available in market for ease of procuring by patients as in our country medicine is sold by commercial name mostly except in few generic counters even there too commercial names of generic are used. Bad part of this lies in fact that these Pharma companies also provide doctors with many gifts too like pen, pad, cosmetic item, mobile phone, scenery, calendar, dairy etc and organize seminars inside hospitals or nearby clubs, big hotels or restaurants, farmhouse with cocktail dinner or lunch in name of Continue medical education programme. Most of Doctors programme as Annual day of Association or their specialty annual or biannual conferences, their alumni or picnic or even Medical Student union meet or even scientific programme of a hospital or a medical college or even a Medical Science Mela/Fare is directly or indirectly supported by Pharma companies either helping by advertising in their souvenirs or by putting stalls around such meet or a direct talk of an expert on subject where indirect promoting of their product is done. It is well-known fact that pharma companies manage the country or foreign tours for doctors why favor them hughly as stated above but MCI or DCI takes action where a complain is filed as they themselves cant see or hear as our Supreme Court takes cognizance of some crime itself. MCI or Doctor’s Associations issue nice orders but hardly takes action so this evil is spreading. Again why so much restriction and a deterrent on Doctors only, when print media, electronic media or social media cant exist without any advertisement. When Engineers, Research scholars, Literary festivals, Businessmen, industrialist, media conferences, scientist meet, lawyers aggregation and university and college students organise their programme with the help of open and wide advertisement and sponsoring companies than why doctors and pharma companies are soft targets only? If pharma companies sell their product by meeting or sponsoring doctors or their association than what is wrong here? Every product starts from soap to rice, wheat, tv, refrigerator, mobile phone, land plots, flat etc are being sold by hugh advertisement spending almost 50% of their income on the advertisement. Regarding price than it is printed there and no body can charge excess than that, Person have the choice to choose any one which one likes as one choose a tv channel to watch. If pharma companies are keeping the price very inflated than what is the price of generic than where is the government? Why Pharma Companies are given license to operate in the country? as their price is very open and wriien on every medicine pack. On one hand our PM will invite them to invest in our country and manufacture and sell product after going through all pharmaceutical and other government checks and on other hand punish their main person a doctor who can write their product cannot be accepted, as if Doctor do not write, their sell will be diminished if loss how can they afford to stay here,so better not to invite or allow them to operate in India them blaming and targetting Doctor unncessarily .If a doctor commits something other wrong as in this case he may be punished. If the government think with the mindset that costly medicines are due to Doctors or hospitals than it is wrong. If government thinks so they should keep fixed price of every formulation produced by any company and fix fee of every doctor as per their qualification, rate of every treatment or operation in every hospital as per their tier or facilities but as it cant fix price of soap, shoes, tv, mobile, computers than how it can fix medicine price? So, fixing it by blocking and punishing doctors with a charge of bribe if any pharma company meets them for favoring their product cant be justified and it is high time that doctors and their different association should fight government to come clean on such controversies as doctors should not be blamed for costly and unaffordable treatment as it is Government and it’s policy is responsible. Doctor as an ordinary resident always abide by the constitution of our country. Many times our health administrators convey doctors to write generic names only but why? Why Government is allowing any pharma company to be in India and manufacture and sell medicines with commercial names and even name tan why so much difference in prices of one and same product? Are all ethics and their implementation on the shoulder of doctors only or is this the process of following of an ethics where roots are allowed to grow but branches and stems are cut? As a doctor or hospital what you think regarding such problem of doctors in our country? Please write a few comments.