SC Issues Notice In Plea For Direction To Frame Uniform Code Of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices To Regulate Unethical Practices by Pharma Companies

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to give the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices statutory basis and make it effective by providing a monitoring mechanism, transparency, accountability as well as consequences of violations.The petition has been filed in the wake of pharmaceutical companies bribing doctors to bring business and to prescribe excessive and/or irrational drugs and a push for high-cost and/or over-priced brands.The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant was hearing the writ petition by the FEDERATION OF MEDICAL & SALES REPRESENTATIVES ASSOCIATION OF INDIA which further seeks a direction that till an effective law is enacted as prayed above, the Court may lay down the guidelines to control and regulate unethical marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies, or in the alternative, make the existing Code binding with such modifications/additions as the Court may find proper and reasonable, which should be followed by all the authorities/courts under Articles 32, 141, 142 and 144 of the Constitution.On Friday, Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh advanced, "This is an important issue in public interest. We have circulated a judgment by Justice Ravindra Bhat which says that if you are a bribe-giver or a bribe-taker, both actions are prohibited. Because pharmaceutical companies are saying 'we are not liable, bribe-takers are the doctors'...In all the European countries, in the US, in the UK, they have legislation"Justice Chandrachud asked, "Your case here is that unless it is given statutory force, UCPMP guidelines would be laid down by the court?""My prayer is that the government should look into its own efforts because it has said that the Code should be made statutory in nature...We saw what happened between Remdesivir and other drugs of those combinations..."Justice Surya Kant asked, "Can this be worked out by giving a comprehensive representation to the Union?""We have already done that. This has been a very prolonged process- the petitioner has been pursuing this since 2009", replied the advocate.Justice Chandrachud said, "We will see what the government proposes to do"The bench then issued notice returnable in six weeks.Details of the petition (as extracted from the petition)The Petitioner No. 1 is the Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India (FMRAI), a national level Trade Union with local units in 300 cities and towns of the country, registered in 1963 under the Trade Unions Act, 1926. Petitioner No. 2 is the Secretary of Petitioner No. 1 Union. Petitioner No. 3 is the National Coordinator of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, an organization involved in health-related issues, and has been working as the pharmaceutical industry's watch since the last 40 years. Since 2005, the Petitioners have been seeking effective prevention and control of unethical marketing practices in the pharma industry by way of an enforceable Code of Ethical Marketing, through regular interaction with the Respondent No. 1 (MINISTRY OF FERTILIZER AND CHEMICALS, DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS)"Petitioners seek enforcement of the fundamental right to health enshrined in the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India in view of the ever-increasing instances of unethical marketing practices by Pharmaceutical Companies in their dealings with healthcare professionals resulting in the prescription of excessive and/or irrational drugs and a push for high-cost and/or over-priced brands, which are practices that directly affect citizens' health, violating their rights under Article 21 of Constitution. There are abundant examples that show how corruption in the pharmaceutical sector endangers positive health outcomes and puts patients' health at risk. As violations of this kind have become a recurring phenomenon and are progressively becoming more pervasive, the Petitioners pray that a Statutory Code of ethical marketing for the pharmaceutical industry, with penal consequences, be established to curb such practices for the enforcement of the fundamental Right to Health of the people of India. Due to voluntary nature of the existing Code, unethical practices continue to increase and have also surfaced during the COVID-19 times.The profession of pharmaceuticals/ medicine is widely acknowledged as a noble one. Apart from being a source of livelihood, it contains inherent elements of sacrifice and service towards the ailing humanity. In manufacturing, selling, distributing and marketing medical substances, which include potent drugs, a pharmaceutical company enjoys great power over people and must conversely be charged with strict accountability of doing its utmost to safeguard the health and lives of people. Given the highly pernicious influence and power of the pharmaceutical industry over medicines, which are a social good because of their significance for individual lives, not only the production, sale and distribution of...

SC Issues Notice In Plea For Direction To Frame Uniform Code Of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices To Regulate Unethical Practices by Pharma Companies

Mehal Jain

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