A rampant malpractice busted in Rajshahi

Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection on Tuesday night conducted a drive against the rampant business of selling physicians' samples of medicines at Modern Medicine Market in Rajshahi city's Laxmipur. 

Physicians' samples are meant for free distribution and not for sale. Selling samples to pharmacy owners and patients are both punishable offences, said Hasan Maruf, the directorate's assistant director.

He said pharmaceutical companies distribute the samples among doctors for their practice, and for redistributing them among their patients for free, to see the medicines' effectiveness and whether there are better alternatives.

But doctors are selling those samples to different pharmacies at negotiated prices for a long time. The pharmacies are reselling the medicines at retail price, he said.

Acting on a tip off, directorate officials, assisted by Detective Branch of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), raided the market for two hours from 8pm.

They found three pharmacies selling the samples, and fined them Tk 55,000 in total.

Among them, the lion's share of medicines at Anwara Pharmacy were physicians' samples. The owners informed raiding officials that they had medicines worth around Tk 7 lakh at the store.

The officials also found a list of 80 doctors and their brokers, who used to supply the samples.

The pharmacy's owner, Ahsan Habib, told the raiding team that doctors call them to their residences and chambers for selling samples. Sometimes, brokers collect those samples from the doctors.

He said, he pays doctors 60-70 percent of the MRP and profits from selling those.

"Selling physicians' samples is more profitable than buying from pharmaceutical companies," said the assistant director.

Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy commissioner of RMP's Detective Branch, said after buying the samples, pharmacies repackage the medicines for sale.

The officials fined two other pharmacies -- Bismillah Pharmacy and Ma-Baba Pharmacy -- Tk 15,000 each.

Four other pharmacy owners fled after shutting their stores during the raid, sensing presence of law enforcers, the officials said.

The directorate, however, refrained from seizing the samples they found at the stores.

Instead, Hasan Maruf said they directed store owners to arrange for returning the medicines to doctors from whom they bought, or distribute them for free among patients.

"The business of selling physicians' samples has been going on for a long time. We cannot stop it right away. What we tried through the drive is sending a message tothose doctors and pharmacy owners to stop the illegal practice," he said.