Provide details of doctors 'given' freebies by Dolo 650 maker: NMC to I-T dept

New Delhi, Aug 05: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has sought from the Income Tax Department details of doctors who allegedly received freebies from six pharma companies including Dolo 650 maker Micro Labs against whom raids were conducted last month.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative body for the I-T department, in July had accused the makers of the widely-used Dolo-650 tablet of indulging in "unethical practices" and distributing freebies of about Rs 1,000 crore to doctors and medical professionals in exchange for promoting its products.

The Income Tax department had on July 6 raided 36 premises of Bengaluru-based Micro Labs Ltd. across nine states. In a letter on Aug 3, the NMC requested CBDT chairperson Nitin Gupta to "send the names along with registration number and addresses of doctors involved so that those details may be forwarded to state medical councils concerned for information and necessary action".

In the letter Dr Yogender Malik, member of the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), drew attention to section 6.8 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct. Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002. as amended from time to time, which prescribes code of conduct for doctors in their relationship with pharmaceutical and allied health sector industry.

It is apposite to mention here that in the first instance, any complaint regarding professional misconduct by a registered medical practitioner is to be dealt by the state medical council concerned, he said. "I would like to emphasise that Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), National Medical Commission is committed to bring ethics in lives of registered medical practitioners and won't tolerate any misconduct," Dr Malik stated.