No more freebies: India plans crackdown on marketing by drugmakers

Abbott India

02/08/2017 11:06

By Zeba Siddiqui 
    MUMBAI, Aug 2 (Reuters) - India, one of the world's largest 
markets for pharmaceuticals, is drawing up its first set of 
marketing rules for drugmakers, restricting gifts and trips 
offered to doctors and pharmacists to 1,000 rupees ($15), 
according to a draft proposal seen by Reuters. 
    While such rules are common elsewhere in the world and 
adhered to by large pharmaceutical companies, they are not set 
in stone in India, where campaigners have long demanded a 
crackdown on unethical selling practices. These have included 
gifts ranging from electrical appliances to foreign junkets to 
encourage doctors and pharmacists to prescribe and stock certain 
medications. 
    Currently, India has only a voluntary marketing code that 
critics say is ineffective. 
    "In India, corruption and bribery of doctors is widespread," 
said Samiran Nundy, one of India's leading gastrointestinal 
surgeons. "I've seen a range of ways in which this works, from 
presents to doctors to paying for them to attend conferences in 
places like Thailand." 
    "It's great that marketing rules are coming into place, but 
there are a huge number of regulations in India that are not 
enforced," he added. "I hope that these will be enforced."      
    Apart from limiting marketing spending, the draft proposal 
drawn up the Department of Pharmaceuticals and being reviewed by 
India's law ministry would also forbid drugmakers from making 
misleading claims around the curative abilities and efficacy of 
drugs. 
    The rules also impose strict limitations on the number of 
trial samples offered to doctors. 
    An official at the Department of Pharmaceuticals declined to 
comment on the specifics of the draft, but told Reuters that the 
order was being reviewed. 
    The official, who asked not to be named, said no timeline 
has yet been set on the implementation of the new rules. 
    According to the draft seen by Reuters, a failure to abide 
by the rules will result in a marketing ban on a drugmaker for 
more than a year depending on the degree  of the violation, and 
the confiscation of "all packets of the highest selling brand of 
drugs" made by that company. 
    The seized drugs will be handed over for use at government 
hospitals across the country. 
    Companies can turn a marketing suspension order into a cash 
fine, according to the proposal. They will have to pay penalties 
of between 500,000 rupees ($7,800) and 100,000,000 rupees ($1.56 
million) to reverse a marketing suspension order, depending on 
the severity. 
     
    MANDATORY CODE 
    In a letter last year, Tapan Sen, a member of India's upper 
house of Parliament, urged the government to act on drafting a 
mandatory code on the marketing of pharmaceuticals, citing 
irregular practices by several companies.  
    Indian media reported that the letter said the country's 
largest drugmaker, Sun Pharma, Abbott India and privately-held 
Macleods Pharmaceuticals were among drugmakers found to have   
sent doctors on "pleasure trips." 
    Abbott said at the time that it had a strict policy against 
providing gifts and other incentives to doctors, while Macleods 
refuted the allegations. 
    A Sun spokesman told Reuters the company organises 
'continuous medical education' programmes to educate doctors, 
not promote its products, and these are compliant with the 
voluntary marketing guidelines set by the government in 2015. 
    The current draft says companies will be allowed to organise 
screening camps or awareness campaigns at public health centres, 
but it bars advertising by stealth and mandates that doctors 
involved in such events be paid commensurate to their average 
daily income. 
    To ensure implementation of the rules, an 'Ethics Compliance 
Officer' of the rank of joint secretary to the Indian government 
would be appointed. 
    Pharmaceutical marketing practices have long been a subject 
of controversy globally. In India, where health insurance is 
scarce and many rely on pharmacists for medical advice, critics 
say sketchy practices have led to the over-prescription of 
strong cocktail drugs, causing drug-resistance.   
    GlaxoSmithKline  GSK.L  was battered by a bribery scandal in 
China that landed it with a record $490 million fine in 2014. 
    It went on to slash the number of sales reps and overhaul 
its business globally, stopping sales-based incentives for drug 
reps and reducing paid junkets for doctors. 
 
 (Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques, Euan Rocha and Raju 
Gopalakrishnan) 
 
Keywords: INDIA PHARMACEUTICALS/