Govt's intervention key to curb unethical marketing practices by pharma companies

The Supreme Court has recently issued notice to the central government on the issue of regulating unethical marketing practices being followed by the pharmaceutical companies in the country. The apex court issued the notice on a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to make the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices statutory and make it effective by providing a monitoring mechanism, transparency, accountability as well as consequences of violations. The petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by the Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India (FMRAI), a national level trade union of medical representatives with local units in 300 cities and towns of the country. The petition was filed in the wake of pharmaceutical companies bribing doctors to enhance their business.

It is a fact that unethical marketing practice by the pharmaceutical companies has been a major issue the country has been facing for a long time now. Though the central government had come out with a Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) way back in June 2011 to arrest the unethical marketing practice of bribing of doctors by the pharmaceutical companies, it remained largely on paper as it was a voluntary code. The government had then stated that if the unethical marketing practices do not come down, then the code will be made mandatory. Unfortunately, even though reports of pharmaceutical companies bribing the doctors continued to hit the newspaper headlines, the government kept a studious silence over this important issue of public interest. In 2019, some medical representatives had come on record to state that the pharmaceutical companies continue to bribe doctors to prescribe their medicines. If these reports are to be believed, the pharmaceutical companies continue to bribe the doctors with expensive gifts such as sponsored foreign trips, microwave ovens, smartphones, jewelry items, etc to prescribe their products. What is more stunning, according to the reports, is that even women are on offer by the pharmaceutical companies to the doctors as bribe to prescribe their products.

The medical representatives, as per the reports, have revealed that hardly 10-20 per cent of doctors follow the Medical Council of India's code of ethics, while the rest accept or even demand incentives to prescribe products of a particular company. The medical representatives have further disclosed that the most common inducement to the doctors is the sponsoring them for conferences, especially international conferences. These conferences are just an alibi, as in effect these are sponsored foreign tour packages. In the reports, the medical representatives have further revealed that in many high-value deals, such as installments on the purchase of a car, the pharma companies even threaten the doctors if the targeted business, which is a certain number of prescriptions for medicine, is not achieved. The report also revealed that of late cash bribes have given way to petro cards, credit cards or e-vouchers which can be used for online shopping.

In fact, the FMRAI and other organizations working in the health sector have since 2005 been seeking effective prevention and control of unethical marketing practices in the pharmaceutical industry by way of an enforceable marketing code. Now, the petitioners seek enforcement of the fundamental right to health enshrined in the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India in view of the ever-increasing instances of unethical marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies in their dealings with healthcare professionals resulting in the prescription of excessive and irrational drugs and a push for high-cost and over-priced brands, which are practices that directly affect citizens' health, violating their rights under Article 21 of Constitution. There are abundant examples that show how corruption in the pharmaceutical sector endangers positive health outcomes and puts patients' health at risk. As violations of this kind have become a recurring phenomenon and are progressively becoming more pervasive, the petitioners pray that a statutory code of ethical marketing for the pharmaceutical industry, with penal consequences, be established to curb such practices for the enforcement of the fundamental Right to Health of the people of India. It is now abundantly clear that due to voluntary nature of the existing marketing code, unethical practices continue to increase in the country.

Enough time has already been wasted by the government. The government should understand the fact that it has a critical role in ensuring that the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical companies are effectively regulated so that the health of people is not adversely affected due to considerations of profiteering. The government should initiate measures to make the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices a statutory code.

(The author is freelance journalist with varied experience in different fields)