30 Doctors Found Guilty in Pharma Freebies Case; No Action Yet

An RTI response has revealed that 30 doctors found guilty of accepting a ₹2-crore foreign trip to Paris and Monaco sponsored by pharmaceutical company AbbVie belong to at least nine states. However, disciplinary action remains pending in several cases, with six State Medical Councils yet to submit action-taken reports to the National Medical Commission (NMC) despite receiving the doctors' names in December 2025. The Department of Pharmaceuticals reportedly forwarded only 27 of the 30 names to NMC, without explaining why three names were excluded. The doctors were from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi, Assam and Kerala.

The NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board recently issued reminders to the councils of Assam, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and West Bengal, asking them to expedite inquiries and submit reports. RTI applicant Dr. Babu KV alleged that while AbbVie was identified as the company that funded the foreign trips, authorities have not disclosed the names of the doctors involved, reports TOI.

The controversy stems from a 2024 complaint, following which a departmental audit reportedly found that the company had violated the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices. Under NMC rules, if a complaint remains unresolved by a state council for more than six months, the commission can refer the matter to its own ethics committee for further action.