The National Medical Commission has introduced fresh guidelines pertaining to the ethical conduct of medical professionals. Among these rules is a prohibition on doctors participating in medical workshops or conferences sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by pharmaceutical or allied health sector companies.
New Medical Ethics Regulations – Stricter Guidelines for Healthcare Professionals in India
According to the commission’s gazette notification dated August 2, registered medical practitioners and their families are prohibited from accepting gifts, travel accommodations, hospitality, cash, consultancy fees, honorariums, or access to entertainment or recreational activities from pharmaceutical companies, their representatives, commercial healthcare establishments, medical device companies, or corporate hospitals, under any circumstances.
Furthermore, these guidelines clarify that healthcare practitioners should abstain from participating in external educational gatherings like seminars, workshops, symposia, or conferences supported by pharmaceutical firms or the allied health sector, regardless of whether this support is provided directly or indirectly. The objective of these regulations is to improve healthcare professionals’ awareness of potential conflicts of interest that could occur.
While the regulations explicitly prohibit cash or monetary grants and honorariums, they do clarify that this restriction does not apply to salaries and benefits that doctors may receive as employees of these organizations.
Furthermore, the new regulations require doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names to patients, as specified under Section 8. This provision emphasizes the importance of legible prescriptions and rational drug prescriptions, with a focus on avoiding unnecessary medications and irrational fixed-dose combination tablets.
Medico-Legal Society of India Seeks Review of New Medical Ethics Regulations
The Medico-Legal Society of India, an all-India association of doctors and medico-legal experts, has already requested a review of this clause through a written letter to the Prime Minister and the Central Health Ministry.
These updated regulations are aimed at eliminating any avenues that could lead to medical practitioners receiving direct or indirect benefits from pharmaceutical or allied healthcare sector companies, with the goal of ensuring that drug prescriptions remain unbiased and uninfluenced. The regulations also establish different levels of penalties based on the severity of contravention, which may include the suspension of a medical license.
