NDTV's hidden camera expose proves that doctors blatantly violate guidelines in exchange for kickbacks from pharma firms.
One of the three Delhi doctors who were caught on camera taking bribes in exchange of prescribing drugs, in a NDTV expose, has been arrested.
The Medical Council of India or MCI has summoned the two other doctors. (
Caught On Camera: For Bribes, Doctors Will Prescribe You Anything)
The Ethics Committee of the MCI had met earlier in the day to discuss the evidence revealed by the NDTV report.
The MCI is also carrying on an enquiry on professional misconduct against the three doctors. The council has the power to cancel the licenses of these doctors.
The MCI serves as the watchdog for doctors and medical practices.
The Ethics Committee had earlier stated, "It is a matter of grave concern, a preliminary enquiry is going on".
Reacting to the expose, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said in Parliament yesterday such "unethical practices" will be urgently tackled and that "adequate action" will follow.
With a hidden camera, the NDTV team had posed as representatives of a pharmaceutical company and asked three doctors in Delhi what it would take to push their company's drugs. One wanted cash; another asked for a digital camera worth Rs. 1.5 lakh; the third consulted his son on the phone and then asked for "an iPad mini, with retina display and 32GB."
(Watch)The malpractice of doctors pushing expensive and often unnecessary drugs in collusion with pharmaceutical representatives is rampant, claimed Dr Samiran Nundy, a leading Delhi surgeon with Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
"They can't have free lunches and dinners. The MCI has these guidelines but I don't know why they aren't enforced. All pharmaceutical companies give gifts to doctors," he said, pointing out that to check the problem, the Sunshine Act in the US makes it mandatory for pharmaceutical firms and makers of medical devices to declare, on a public website, any payments made to doctors.
Dr Jai Vir Singh, member of the Medical Council of India, said, "It is the fault of the company also. Giving a bribe and taking the bribe are both wrong. Certainly we are going to take action against these doctors."