The pharma companies have approached the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) and the Medical Council of India (MCI) to make the Uniform Code of Pharmaceuticals Marketing Practices (UCPMP) industry friendly. The UCPMP restrained the healthcare professionals from accepting free samples, gift, traveling facilities, cash or monetary benefits from pharmaceutical companies. So, the pharma companies especially SMEs and new entrants fear that the new marketing code may affect branding of their products and with no alternative sources of visibility and information among the medical professionals.
At present the UCPMP is to be voluntarily adopted by pharma companies with effect from January 01, 2015 for a period of six months and the Department will be reviewing the compliance record during the period on the basis of inputs received. DoP has also directed the pharma association to form a complaint handling committee named as 'Ethics Committee for Pharma Marketing Practices' for the proper implementation of UCPMP.
Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) has written a letter to MCI and discussed the matter with Dr. Jayshreeben Mehta, president of MCI. In the meeting held on May 14, 2015, IDMA explained the problem pharma companies will be facing after the implementation of UCPMP.
S V Veerramani, president of IDMA says, “At present the DoP set a 6 months time for observing the compliance. The provisions will certainly impact the SMEs and new companies with lesser known brands as the medical professionals may prefer to prescribe products of well known companies even if products of SMEs are as beneficial and comparatively more affordable.”
He further adds, “The medical practitioners enhances their knowledge by participating in Continued Medical Education (CME), conferences, seminars etc. The pharma companies avails the knowledge and expertise of national and international speakers, the traveling facilities given to the speakers is only as a courtesy and that is not extended to the family member or for any purpose of vacation or foreign trips. Even the free samples that are supplied to the medical professionals, are given to gain the firsthand experience on the performance of product and as starter doses for poor patients, who cannot purchase the medicine even after being prescribed.”
As per the Code, no gifts, free samples and traveling facilities may be provided or offered to physicians by a pharmaceutical company. Gifts for the healthcare professionals or their family members should not be offered or provided by the pharma companies. Code prohibits companies from paying cash or monetary incentives to any healthcare professionals under any pretext. And the companies should not provide free samples of drugs to any person, not qualified to prescribe such product.
The managing director or the chief executive officer of the company will be responsible for ensuring adherence to the Code and a self declaration should be submitted by the managing director or chief executive officer within two months of date of issue of UCPMP and thereafter at the end of every financial year to the Industry Association.