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Rajasthan chapter of the Indian Medical Association(IMA) has directed the doctors in Bhilwara region to follow certain guidelines in interactions with medical representatives to ensure the privacy of conversations.\nDays before, the prime minister has reportedly met the representatives of top pharmaceutical companies and warned them to not bribe the doctors. Now, following this, IMA Bhilwara has issued a notice saying, the medical representatives, who visit doctors to promote drugs on behalf of pharmaceutical companies, should not be allowed to bring phones and other gadgets inside chambers.
\nAnother notice on the same issue highlighted the directive of Medical Council of India (MCI) against the doctors accepting gifts, cheques, foreign country trip vouchers or any type of credit cards. The second notice also warned the doctors to not share PAN number with pharma company\u2019s delegates\u201d and lists other articles that should not be accepted, such as credit cards and foreign trip vouchers.
\nThe IMA notice, titled \u201cRegarding misuse of electronic gadgets by pharma companies\u201d, has asked doctors to protect the \u201cmutual privacy\u201d between medical representatives and doctors. “Please tell them to switch off their mobile and put the electronic gadgets outside the doctor\u2019s chamber during the call or visit,\u201d the notice adds. It also added that the medical representatives are allowed to carry only written documentation methodology and folder to avoid any inconvenience at all levels. The notice also reads that these days pharma managements are using electronic gadgets for detailing their products which are having a tracking system through which they record the conversation in the doctor\u2019s chamber causing undue interference in mutual privacy and also misuse at higher levels.
\n\u201cIt is completely on doctor\u2019s discretion whether to prescribe or not to prescribe the medicine,\u201d said Dr Dushyant Sharma of IMA Bhilwara. \u201cMedical representatives have no role. Hence, recording of the conversation is a matter of concern and needs to be stopped,\u201d he added.
\nSharma referred to \u201crecorded conversations\u201d and said the notice had followed \u201cseveral local cases of misuse of electronic gadgets\u201d.
\n\u201cThe move is completely disconnected from the government\u2019s latest stance. The second notice is also generally circulated\u2026 to remind doctors of the guidelines of the Medical Council of India,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cEveryone has the right to protect their privacy. It is not only about medical professionals asking for the privacy of conversations. In fact, in any profession, privacy is required,\u201d IMA national secretary-general R.V. Asokan reiterated the Bhilwara chapter\u2019s concern.
\nThe PM\u2019s meeting with pharmaceutical companies reportedly followed a report published by NGO Support for Advocacy and Training to Health (SATHI), which suggested that medical representatives bribe doctors.<\/p>\n