A new challenge for Indian physicians and healthcare industry: decoding the MCI code of professional conduct.

摘要

The physician-industry relationship has been a subject of considerable focus in recent years.'1' In a survey of 3167 American physicians published in 2007, Campbell et al., reported that 94% of respondents had some type of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.'''The relationships included: providing food at the workplace (83%); doling out drug samples (78%); reimbursement for costs associated with professional meetings or continuing medical education (35%), and payments for consulting, giving lectures, or enrolling patients in trials (28%). The findings of such surveys have highlighted the need to reflect on the implications of wide-ranging financial ties between the physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. There are growing concerns that these highly prevalent physician-industry relationships may unduly influence professional judgments involving the primary interests and goals of medicine. Spurred on by such concerns, in 2009, the Institute of Medicine, USA published an exhaustive report focusing on the conflict of interest in medical research, education, and practice.The report concluded that such conflicts of interest threaten the integrity of scientific investigations, the objectivity of professional education, the quality of patient care, and the public's trust in medicine. The report recommended many voluntary and regulatory measures to strengthen protections against financial conflicts of interest in medicine without hindering patient care or the advancement of medical knowledge. It recommended several actions to improve disclosure of financial ties between the medical community and industry, limit company payments and gifts, and remove industry influence on medical education and on the development of practice guidelines.