Medical Council of India orders doctors’ suspension for drug industry junket

The Medical Council of India has ordered a six month suspension of the licences of 15 doctors who travelled to the United Kingdom in 2012 on what the council says was a trip paid for by a drug company.

The order, issued last week, came amid longstanding concerns that some doctors in India may be accepting travel support and hospitality from drug companies, thus breaching ethical guidelines issued by the council nearly six years ago. Most of the 15 doctors named in the council’s order are neurologists or neurosurgeons, and all practise in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

A non-governmental organisation called the Health Rights Forum had complained to the council …