In an effort to curb unethical practices in the medical devices sector, the Central government has notified a uniform code for marketing that prohibits expensive trips abroad, monetary grants or gifts.
In a notification, department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) has asked the medical devices association to prohibit organising workshops abroad for healthcare professionals, offering them hotel stays or monetary grants.
"All associations should constitute an ethics committee for marketing practices in medical devices (ECMPMD), upload it on their websites along with a detailed procedure of complaints, which will be linked to the UCPMP portal of department of pharmaceuticals," the notification said.
The DoP has also sought disclosures form medical devices firms for particulars related to distribution of evaluation samples and expenses incurred on conferences , workshops, seminars etc.
As part of the code, a medical device must not be promoted prior to receipt of product approval by the regulatory authority, the notification said.
"The word safe or safety must not be used without qualification and it must not be stated categorically that a medical device has no adverse consequences," it stated.
Moreover, no gift should be offered or provided for personal benefit of any healthcare professional or family member by any medical device company or its agent.
"Companies or their representatives or any person acting on their behalf should not extend travel facilities inside or outside the country to healthcare professionals or their family members for attending conferences , seminars workshops etc," it said.
Besides, the companies or their representatives should not extend hospitality like hotel stay, expensive cuisine, resort accommodation etc to healthcare professionals or their family members, it added.
The companies or their representatives should not pay cash or monetary grants to any healthcare professional or their family members.
The DoP has asked medical devices companies to upload the Uniform Code for Marketing Practices in Medical Devices (UCMPMD) 2024 on their website along with the detailed procedure for lodging of complaints with a link to the UCMPMD portal of the department.
Earlier this year, the DoP had notified the Uniform Code for Pharmaceuticals Marketing Practices (UCPMP) 2024.
In 2022, Dolo tablet maker Micro Labs was accused of distributing Rs 1,000 crore worth freebies to doctors for prescribing Dolo-650 tablets during Covid pandemic. The allegations were denied by the company.
With PTI inputs
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