AGARTALA, July 19 (PTI): Tripura government has banned medical representatives from entering government-run hospitals and health centres from 9am to 4.30pm, a senior official said on Wednesday.
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The move comes after Sepahijala district magistrate Vishal Kumar requested the state government to look into the regular visits of medical representatives to government hospitals during peak hours.
In a letter to the secretary of health services on June 30, the DM said, “It has been observed that in many government establishments, medical representatives visit doctors in a regular and unhindered manner. Samples of medicines are also visible in doctor chambers. Moreover, calendars and other advertisements of medicine companies are also visible in hospital OPD chambers,” he said.
Based on the request of the DM, the director of family welfare and preventive medicine on Tuesday issued a circular barring medical representatives from entering government health facilities during peak hours.
“Requested all chief medical officers (CMOs) to ensure that no medical representative is to be allowed between 9am and 4.30pm on the premises of OPD and any kind of advertisements of pharmaceutical companies are not to be displayed in government health facilities”, it said.
The Professional Sales Representatives Union (PSRU), Tripura unit, on Wednesday termed the government’s circular as uncalled for and an attempt to abolish the medical representatives’ profession.
“Our main aim is to reach out to doctors with the latest medicines so that patients benefit. If medical representatives are barred from government hospitals, the entire system will be severely affected. Besides, no one has the authority to curtail the right to work. We will hold a meeting soon on how to deal with such a circular,” Partha Sarathi Saha, the general secretary of PSRU told PTI.
