IMA's 2 top docs suspended for endorsing consumer products
by Neharika Sabharwal - November 20, 2010
In what can be termed as a strict action against doctors violating the code of ethics, the governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has barred two doctors from practicing medicine for six months for endorsing consumer products by private companies.
The regulatory board of the MCI has struck off the names of the President Goparaju Samaram and the Secretary Dharam Prakash of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) from the medical register.
Imparting the information to the parliament, the union minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad stated, “The ministry received a complaint relating to endorsement of some food products by Indian Medical Association in 2009. The complaint was forwarded to MCI for appropriate action.
“The ethics committee of MCI, at its meeting held on November 9, 2010, considered the matter and decided to remove the name of the president and secretary of IMA from the Indian medical register for a period of six months and issue a censure letter to all executive committee members of IMA to not repeat such practices in future.”
Office bearers of IMA punished for the first time
This is perhaps the first time that office bearers of IMA, an organisation with around two lakh doctors from across the country, have been punished.
This is perhaps the first time that office bearers of IMA, an organisation with around two lakh doctors from across the country, have been punished.
In order to ensure that such practices are not repeated in future, the MCI has also decided to dispatch letters of disapproval to all the 187 IMA executive committee members.
A member of the MCI board said, “It (the debarment) is unprecedented. The heads of the IMA have never been punished before. We’re hoping this sends out a message to the rest of the community.”
Gerorge Thomas, a surgeon in Chennai and editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics stated, “People trust doctors, their knowledge and actions are perceived as backed by science and long years of training. It’s wrong for doctors to endorse any product.”
Contract signed in April 2008
The IMA had signed a contract in April 2008 with the manufacturers of Tropicana fruit juice, Quaker oats, and anti-mosquito cream Odomos to use the IMA logo on their packs for three years in return for Rs 2.25 crores.
The IMA had signed a contract in April 2008 with the manufacturers of Tropicana fruit juice, Quaker oats, and anti-mosquito cream Odomos to use the IMA logo on their packs for three years in return for Rs 2.25 crores.
Though the deal occurred three years ago, the action came in response to a complaint filed by Dr K V Babu, an IMA central committee member on June 6, 2008.
The MCI ethics panel decided to remove the two names on a temporary basis at its Nov. 9, 2010 meeting.
The MCI had cautioned the IMA and affiliated associations earlier this year to avoid endorsing food and hygiene products of private companies, since it was a breach of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation, 2002 provision
(the medguru)
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