The Medical Council of India has proposed penal punishment for doctors accepting cash and any other gifts from drugmakers, although action would depend on individual states and the willingness of state medical councils to pursue action, The Business Standard writes. The proposal is now being reviewed by the health ministry.

“The practice of taking expensive gifts from pharmaceutical companies was increasing the cost of healthcare substantially,” Vinay Aggarwal, former secretary-general of the Indian Medical Association, tells the paper. “Faith in the profession has been dented. We are trying to bring it back,” MCI president Ketan Desai adds. “We are not trying to do any policing. We are professionals. This should not happen in a profession that is called noble.”

Last December, the MCI published a voluntary code (see here), but several docs said it lacked teeth, including K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, who said strict penal provisions to check malpractice are needed. So the MCI plans to publish on its website the names of erring doctors, drugmakers and the nature of offence and punishment, the paper writes.

Doctors accepting gifts worth about $21 to $110 would be censured - issued a warning which would go into their record. Gifts up to $219 would result in a three-month suspension from the medical register. For those up to $1,095, suspension would be up to six months. Still larger gifts may result in a year’s suspension.

Photo thx to Jerome Kassirer