From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Gopal Dabade</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:drdabade@gmail.com">drdabade@gmail.com</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-26/india/36007441_1_drug-companies-drug-promotion-dcgi" target="_blank">http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-26/india/36007441_1_drug-companies-drug-promotion-dcgi</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:19.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:19.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">Govt to crack
down on pharma-doctor nexus</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt;line-height:13.5pt;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Kounteya-Sinha.cms" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">Kounteya Sinha</span></a>, TNN</span></b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"> Dec 26, 2012, 01.25AM IST</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">NEW DELHI: The government is all set to crack the whip on
India's shameful pharma-doctor nexus.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/The-National" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">The National</span></a> Development Council
(NDC), will meet on December 27 to
discuss bringing a legislation requiring drug companies to mandatorily disclose
payments made to doctors for research, consulting, lectures, travel and
entertainment. Doctors involved in ghost writing to promote pharma products
will also be disqualified.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">The official NDC
document says, "Mandated disclosure by pharmaceutical companies of the
expenditure incurred on drug promotion, and penalty on the company and vetting
of drug related material in continuing medical education would be
considered."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">The Planning
Commission says pharmaceutical marketing and aggressive promotion contributes
to irrational use of drugs and therefore there is a need for a mandatory code
to identify and penalize unethical promotion by pharma companies. The
government will also make compulsory the use of generic names or the
International Non-proprietary Name (INN), instead of brand names, at all stages
of government procurement, distribution, prescription and use.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">"Brand
manufacturers will be encouraged to bid for government procurement, but should
provide medicines in generic names," the document says.</span></p><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">Drug companies were
recently caught red-handed writing scientific recommendations of their own
products and submitting them to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)
after getting them endorsed by top doctors for quicker marketing approval.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">Usually, scientific
recommendations are submitted by experts after they have studied a drug's
content. The endorsement is considered a crucial testimony that convinces the
DCGI to trust the drug's effectiveness, in turn, allowing it to be launched in
the market.</span></p><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">The<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pharmaceutical-Industry" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">pharmaceutical industry</span></a> spent more than 25% of its
annual turnover on sales promotion alone as compared to a paltry 7% on research
and development in 2008-09.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">India plans to soon
introduce the 'Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices' after which
the word "safe" cannot be used on a drug without qualification and it
must be stated categorically that a medicine has no side-effects, toxic hazards
or risk of addiction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">The
code says, "No gifts, pecuniary advantages or benefits in kind may be
supplied, offered or promised to persons qualified to prescribe or supply by a
pharmaceutical company. Gifts for the personal benefit of healthcare
professionals (such as tickets to <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Entertainment" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">entertainment</span></a> events) also are not be offered or
provided. Companies must not organize meetings to coincide with sporting,
entertainment or other leisure events. Venues that are renowned for their
entertainment must not be used."</span></p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><br></div>-- <a href="http://novartisboycott.org/petition" target="_blank"></a></font></span><br></div><br>