'Complete surrender to corporate pharmaceuticals': Doctors, activists criticise new pharma marketing code

New Delhi: Days after the Union government released a new marketing code for pharmaceutical companies, a section of doctors and public health campaigners has come down heavily on it, arguing that such a code is nothing but an eyewash to allow the firms to continue with their unethical marketing practices.

The Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices, 2024 - a modified version of a similar code that came in 2015 – carries the same loopholes that drug firms are exploiting to pay doctors in an unethical fashion, allege the critics. The industry associations, however, are in support of the new code.

"The code prohibits companies from making travel and hospitality arrangements for doctors or their family members unless the person is a speaker for a Continuing Medical Education or Continuing Professional Development programme. These are loopholes that are widely used," Malini Aisola from All India Drug Action Network told DH.

Released last week, the code has provisions to forbid companies from offering expensive gifts to doctors, providing travel and hospitality to doctors and their families, and offering monetary gifts. However, the guidelines lack teeth, paving the way for companies to bypass them.

"For instance, many doctors receive a sizable amount of fees for being on the scientific advisory committees of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. There are others, who serve as investigators in clinical trials. In many cases the payments are accompanied by legal contracts, but the new UCPMP doesn’t have any requirement for public disclosures of payments to doctors for such research support," Aisola said.

The new code, not mandatory for pharmaceutical companies, is deemed as useless as the last one, according to the Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare, an association of doctors that has been advocating for legislation on unethical pharma marketing.

“The worldwide experience is that voluntary marketing codes do not work. This move by the government is complete surrender to the corporate pharmaceutical sector,” it said.

In the new code, associations of pharmaceutical companies have been tasked with overseeing the conduct of member companies. These associations are required to establish dedicated panels to investigate complaints of unethical marketing.

“This is in effect only window dressing. There is no penalty or scope for any other action against the company except that the company would lose membership of the association of which it is part,” said Arun Gadre, a Pune-based gynaecologist and a member of ADEH.

Other penalty provisions are reprimanding the company and recovery of the money or gift by the company. In certain cases, the industry association will inform the Department of Pharmaceuticals.