The National Medical Commission (NMC) has yet to take action against 30 doctors found guilty of accepting a foreign trip funded by pharmaceutical company AbbVie, as the case remains “under consideration.” An audit committee from the Department of Pharmaceuticals concluded their guilt in December of last year, and the names of the doctors were forwarded to the commission in July for further action.
Dr. Abhijat Sheth, the newly appointed chairperson of the NMC, confirmed to the Times of India that pending matters before the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) cannot be addressed at the moment due to a lack of members, with four out of five positions, including that of the president, vacant. “Since this is a serious matter, it will be taken up as soon as possible,” Sheth remarked. He added that the government has assured the NMC that the vacant positions will be filled shortly, but until then, there is little that can be done regarding pending issues.
Among the four autonomous boards within the NMC, the EMRB, which oversees the regulation of the medical profession, currently has only one part-time member, Dr. Surinder Pal Singh, who was appointed in July. Many of the board’s positions have remained unfilled for over a year, despite the NMC Act requiring that vacancies be referred to a search committee three months before the expiration of a member’s tenure. The NMC had issued a circular inviting applications for these vacant positions in 2023 and again in August 2024.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has not made the list of the 30 doctors public, even though its audit committee and a subsequent apex committee found them guilty of accepting funded vacations to Monaco and Paris from AbbVie. Despite the apex committee recommending action against the doctors in December 2024, the department did not forward the names to the NMC until July.
