MUMBAI: Pharma firms may be banned from offering incentives to doctors to push their products, but at the annual conference of paediatricians being held in Bengaluru, a flyer carrying ‘Sankranti bonanza’ is doing the rounds, offering items like digital weighing scales, gold coins and stethoscope as gifts for doctors ordering vaccines in bulk for diseases like typhoid and rota virus.
While the flyer doesn’t mention the name of any pharmaceutical company, a doctor said it was found only at the booth of one pharmaceutical company. The meeting’s chief organiser, however, denied doctors were being offered freebies. “There’s no such thing. There are never any incentives for vaccines,” he said. If someone buys vaccines in bulk, they may get a reduction in the overall price,” said Dr Karunakara. “I have been a pediatrician for 18 years, and, believe me, there is no such thing as an incentive offered to doctors,” he added.
The company’s national marketing head, Raghu Reddy, said the flyers were “pure mischief”. “We fear the flyers were made and distributed by multinationals who are worried about a company’s growth. We have tried for a year to locate the culprits, but failed,” he said.
