Supreme Court Claims Dolo Firm Gave 1,000-Crore Freebies To Docs, Call It A Serious Issue

The Supreme Court has considered it as a “serious issue” for pharma companies to give incentives to doctors for prescribing their medicines. A petition is being heard by the SC on this account.

As per the petition, the manufacturers of Dolo- 650, a tablet prescribed for fever, have invested Rs. 1000 crore in freebies. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Justice AS Bopanna have asked the Centre to file its response within 10 days.

Justice DY Chandrachud said, “This is not music to ears. Even I was asked to have same medicine when I had Covid. This is a serious matter.”

Notably, the petition was filed by the Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India.

Representing the Federation, senior advocate Sanjay Parikh said, “Dolo invested over 1000 crore in freebies to doctors so they would promote the drug”.

Reportedly, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) conducted a raid at 36 premises of the Bengaluru-based Micro Labs Limited across nine states. After the operation, the organisation accused the manufacturer of unethical practices. The CBDT said that they have detected tax evasion of Rs. 300 crore by the company.

According to the petition, such practices can not only result in over-use of drugs, but can also jeopardise patients’ health. As well as, such corruption pushes high-priced or irrational drugs in the market.

It also notes that due to the existing rules, pharma companies doesn’t hesitate to take the easy road and flourish through such unethical practices. The Covid pandemic boosted the confidence of these manufacturers.

The Federation has asked SC to ensure that the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices should be made effective by providing a monitoring mechanism, transparency and accountability. Earlier, the bench issued a notice to the Centre, and the response is almost ready, said Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj.

Hearing on this matter will once again be held on September 29.