It added that if a code breach is found, than the complainant and the company will be advised in writing, including about taking the remedial steps. If the company files no appeal within the stipulated period, the ECPMP decision will be considered final and binding. The decision will be uploaded on the website of the Association and the Department of Pharmaceuticals.On penalties, the code said that the committee could suspend or expel the entity from the association, reprimand it and publish it or ask it to issue a corrective statement in the media. It also lists that they can be asked to recover money or items given in violation of the code from the concerned person. It stressed that the company’s CEO is responsible for adherence to the code.The code governs the conduct of pharmaceutical companies in their marketing practices, duly covering various aspects such as medical representatives, textual and audio-visual promotional materials, samples, gifts, etc. For medical representatives, the code said that pharma companies should not employ any inducement or subterfuge to gain an interview. They must not pay, under any guise, for access to a healthcare professional.For the pharma company, it said that the promotion of a drug must be consistent with the terms of its marketing approval. A drug must not be promoted before receipt of its marketing approval from the competent authority authorising its sale or distribution. The information about drugs must be balanced, up-to-date, and verifiable and must not mislead either directly or by implication.The pharma companies should not make claims and comparisons of their drug’s usefulness, and the word “safe” must not be used without qualification, and should not claim that the medicine has no side effects, toxic hazards, or risk of addiction. “The word “new” must not be used to describe any drug which has been generally available or any therapeutic intervention which has been generally promoted in India for more than a year,” the code said.
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