Govt. issues marketing code for pharmaceutical firms

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Last Updated14/03/2024

The Department of Pharmaceuticals issued the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) 2024

It specifying the rules of the use of the words “safe’’ and “new’’ for drugs, and stated that medical representatives must not employ any inducement or subterfuge
- To gain an interview, and that they must not pay, under any guise, for access to a healthcare professional.
Engagement of the pharmaceutical industry with healthcare professionals for Continuing Medical Education (CME) should only be allowed
- Through a well-defined, transparent, and verifiable set of guidelines, and conduct of such events in foreign locations is prohibited by the uniform code.
Companies or their representatives should not pay cash or monetary grants to any healthcare professional or their family members (both immediate and extended) under any pretext.
The latest UCPMP also notes that paid travel, hotel stays, etc., should not be extended to healthcare professionals or their family members by pharmaceutical companies
The UCPMP is to be circulated for strict compliance, and all associations have been requested to constitute an Ethics Committee for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices
- set up a dedicated UCPMP portal on their website, and take further necessary steps for the code’s implementation.
- All Indian pharmaceutical associations are to upload the UCPMP on their website along with the detailed procedure for lodging of complaints, which will be linked to the UCPMP portal of the Department of Pharmaceuticals.