Government Notifies Uniform Code For Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices
The code prohibits any pharmaceutical company or its agent from providing personal benefit that would incentivise a healthcare professional to prescribe a particular drug.
The government has notified the uniform code of conduct that lays down the "do's and don'ts" for promotion of drugs sold by pharmaceutical companies in India.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers and the Central Government notified the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) 2024 on March 12.
The code prohibits any pharmaceutical company or its agent—distributors, wholesalers, retailers—from providing personal benefit that would incentivise a healthcare professional to prescribe a particular drug.
No gift should be offered or provided for personal benefit of any healthcare professional or family member—both immediate and extended.
No pecuniary advantage or benefit of kind may be offered, supplied, or promised to any person qualified to prescribe or supply drugs
No travel facilities inside or outside the country, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets, paid vacations, etc., should be given to healthcare professionals or their family members for attending conferences, seminars, workshops, etc.
No hospitality like hotel stay, expensive cuisine, resort accommodation etc., should be provided to healthcare professionals or their family members (both immediate and extended).
No cash or monetary grants should be given to any healthcare professional or their family members (both immediate and extended) under any pretext.
For points 3 and 4, the only exception is when the person is a speaker for a CME (Continuing Medical Education) or a CPD (Continuing professional development) Program.
Even medical representatives must not pay, under any guise, for access to a healthcare professional.
The Code also defines certain rules for providing brand reminders.
Informational and educational items handed out should not exceed Rs 1,000 per item and should not have an independent commercial value for the healthcare professionals. These items include books, calendars, diaries, journals (including e-journals), dummy device models and clinical treatment guidelines.
"Free samples of drugs shall not be supplied to any person who is not qualified to prescribe such a product." The samples should be marked "free medical sample not for sale" and should not be larger than the smallest pack present in the market. Also, sample packs should be limited to prescribed dosage for not more than three patients and and no company should offer more than twelve such sample packs per drug to any healthcare practitioner per year.
Additionally, the code requires each company to maintain details such as product name, doctor name, quantity of samples given, and date of supply of free samples to healthcare practitioners, among others.
Also, the monetary value of free samples so distributed should not exceed two percent of the domestic sales of the company per year.
In addition to this, the code also defines how claims around usefulness of product should be made, how comparisons with other products must be done and what should audio-visual promotion entail.
It also sets procedures for setting up 'Ethics Committee for Pharma Marketing Practices (ECPMP)' in each Association, lodging complaints, handling complaints, penalties and appeals.
