The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

MCI mulls action against IMA docs endorsing Pepsi, Dabur products
Practice unethical, action against erring docs a must, says board member
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 10
In a move that will go a long way in encouraging ethical medical practices in India, the Medical Council of India (MCI) is mulling recommending action against Indian Medical Association (IMA) members who signed agreements with Pepsi and Dabur in 2009 undertaking to endorse their products in return for money.

For the agreed upon endorsements, the IMA as per agreements, was to get Rs 2.25 crore for three years of the contract (Rs 52 lakh per year from Pepsi and Rs 23 lakh a year from Dabur).

The matter came up for discussions yesterday at the ethics committee meeting of the MCI which is learnt to have termed the practice of endorsements of products by medical organisations as unethical and supported some kind of action against IMA members behind the signing of contracts that brought IMA a great deal of money.

The decision on the nature of such action and deciding whether endorsements by medical organisations are ethical would be taken by the MCI board of governors shortly.

Board member Dr Ranjit Roy Choudhary meanwhile admitted to The Tribune today that the case was one of sheer disregard of ethics. “This practice is unethical and unacceptable. Action must be taken against the doctors behind such endorsements. We can’t act against the IMA as it is an institution, but individual doctors must be acted against,” he said. MCI board chief Dr SK Sarin could not be contacted for comments.

It was in the endorsement committee meeting of the IMA held in New Delhi on October 26, 2007, that proposals of PepsiCo India and Dabur India to endorse their products (Quaker, Tropicana juice of PepsiCo and Odomos cream, gel and lotion of Dabur) were discussed. The companies had approached the IMA through Via Media Communications.

It was also decided that in return for the IMA endorsements, Pepsi would pay Rs 46 lakh per year for three years to the association and spend Rs 6 lakh per annum for IMA’s continuing medical education programmes. As per minutes of the IMA endorsement committee meeting, Pepsi’s financial commitment would be Rs 156 lakh for three years. Dabur would likewise pay Rs 23 lakh a year to the IMA for Odomos endorsement for three years.

Till date, the IMA has already got Rs 1.5 crore. Ironically, minutes of the IMA central working committee’s Puri meeting, which cleared the agreements on April 13, 2009, say the money would be used for travel allowances of CWC members and for organising World Medical Assembly in New Delhi in 2009. It was in this assembly that the now-tainted former MCI chief Ketan Desai was elected World Medical Association president.

z MCI under Ketan Desai twice rejected another IMA member N Babu’s complaints in the case.

z Babu approached the MCI ethics committee afresh on August 10 this year, naming 187 doctors at the Puri meeting that approved endorsements - this after the MCI said it could only proceed against individual doctors, not the IMA.

z The IMA replied on August 30, defended itself, said it had in its Nagpur CWC meet in November last banned future endorsements but Pepsi, Dabur endorsements would continue till contract ended in 2012.

z Odomos claims IMA certification; Quaker Oats, Tropicana flaunt IMA logo