Doctors went to Paris and Monaco to 'gain knowledge'

Doctors went to Paris and Monaco to 'gain knowledge' 

24.12.2024 TIMES OF INDIA 

Twenty four doctors went to Paris and six went to Monaco earlier this year to “gain knowledge” on the antiaging products, which have been marketed aggressively and have become synonymous with the aspiration of continuing youthfulness. . . . UCPMP guidelines prohibit pharmaceutical companies from offering “travel and hospitality” to any healthcare professional. AbbVie Healthcare India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of American pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc, spent close to ₹1.91 crore on travel tickets and hotel accommodations for the doctors, according to an audit carried out by the pharma department. AbbVie did not respond to an email sent for clarification on the matter by TOI. However, according to an order issued by the pharma department, a copy of which is with TOI, the company justified its breach as "acceptable industry practice". Later, AbbVie claimed that the company had entered into a professional service agreement with the doctors to compensate them for their services, which again did not cut the ice with investigators from the apex committee for pharma marketing practices that comes under the pharmaceutical department. “The agreements entered by M/s AbbVie do not clarify why such highly trained healthcare professionals (HCPs) need to be provided with foreign travel opportunities to gain knowledge about simple procedures in medical aesthetics, such as administration of 'Botox and Juvéderm'. Such medical interventions are widely recognized as a lucrative commercial service and evidence attached to complaint links HCPs (the doctors) directly to sale, purchase or administration of such aesthetic products of M/s AbbVie,” the investigators pointed out, and suggested remedial action.

Foreign trips of docs: Pharma co's tax liability under scanner 

New Delhi : The Union govt's department of pharmaceuticals has pulled up multinational AbbVie Healthcare for violating the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) by taking 30 doctors to Paris and Monaco to improve their “ knowledge” on popular anti-aging products Botox and Juvederm, and asked tax authorities to assess the tax liability of the company and the physicians. The department has also asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) to undertake action for professional misconduct by the doctors.