Doctors attending Bengaluru’s PEDICON offered freebies by Pharma companies?

The ongoing 54th PEDICON, annual conference of paediatricians, alleged reports of a pharmaceutical company offering freebies including gold coins are doing rounds. However, the Medical Council of India (MCI) prohibits pharmaceutical companies from offering incentives and freebies to doctors.

A flyer mentioned a 'Sankranti bonanza' was distributed at the event. It mentions that doctors ordering 100TCV (vaccine against typhoid) plus 100ROTA (vaccine against rota virus) can choose between a 'digital baby weighing machine' or 'stethoscope Class III' as free gifts," a doctor attending the 54th PEDICON conference told The Times of India.

The flyer carried no mention of any brands. The chief organiser of the event has denied any such ‘freebies’. Talking to TOI, Dr Karunakara said, “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.”

Not just this edition, even during last year’s PEDICON, a similar incident happened when Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech had offered an iPhone 5S for every order of 200 vaccines of typhoid and rota.