Rs 1000 crore Doctors Freebies Scam: NMC asks Tax department for names of doctors, to soon initiate action

New Delhi: The doctors whose names have allegedly been unearthed in the recent Income Tax raid at Micro Labs are expected to face the wrath of National Medical Commission (NMC) which has asked the IT Department for revealing the names of the involved doctors in order to begin its own investigations into the matter. These doctors allegedly seem to have taken freebies including travel expenses, perquisites and gifts amounting to Rs 1000 crore from the manufacturer of the famous Dolo 650 brand. 

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Income Tax Department had conducted raids on the offices of popular drug Dolo-650 manufacturer Micro Labs Limited in the connection of alleged tax evasion.

Later, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had accused the makers of the widely-known Dolo-650 medicine tablet of indulging in "unethical practices" and distributing freebies of about Rs 1,000 crore to doctors and medical professionals in exchange for promoting products made by the pharmaceutical group. 

"During the course of the search operations, substantial incriminating evidence, in the form of documents and digital data, has been found and seized...The initial gleaning of the evidence has revealed that the group has been debiting in its books of account unallowable expenses on account of the distribution of freebies to the medical professionals under the head 'sales and promotion'," the IT Department had said.

The CBDT had alleged these "freebies included travel expenses, perquisites and gifts etc. to doctors and medical professionals for promoting the group's products under the heads 'promotion and propaganda', 'seminars and symposiums', 'medical advisories' etc."

"The evidence indicates that the group has adopted unethical practices to promote its products/ brands. The quantum of such freebies detected is estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore," it said.

Following the same, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Department of Pharmaceuticals have tasked the Ethics Committee under the apex medical regulator, National Medical Commission to probe into the matter.

Now the NMC, the Apex medical education regulatory body has reportedly decided to interview the concerned doctors whose names have come up in order to establish the bribing or unethical practice, adds News 18. After the completion of the interview process, the Commission would submit the report to the Union Health Ministry, 

The daily adds that in case the doctors are found to be guilty, they might lose their medical certification and their right to practice as well.

Also Read: Income Tax raid on Micro Labs manufacturer of Dolo 650

in a recent article,  News 18 reported that NMC as a first step will ask the Income Tax Department for revealing the names of the doctors who were found to be allegedly involved during the raids. After receiving the names from the I-T department, NMC will conduct interviews with the doctors to establish the bribing or unethical practices. 

On Wednesday, the Commission wrote to the chairperson of the CBDT, Nitin Gupta asking for the details for establishing the "alliance between pharmaceutical companies and doctors".

In the letter, Dr Yogender Malik, member of NMC Ethics Committee has referred to the Section 6.8 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) and urged the CBDT "to send names along with registration number and addresses of the doctors involved so that those details may be forwarded to the state medical councils concerned for information and necessary action".

Emphasizing on the importance of ethic in the lives of doctors, he has clarified that the Commission "won't tolerate any misconduct". The daily adds that after completion of the interview process, NMC would submit the report to the Health Ministry.

While commenting on this, an official told News 18, "The doctors who will be proven guilty may lose their medical certification and right to continue practice." However, the official has also clarified that "establishing bribery won't be a simple process".