10 months on, NMC yet to act against 30 doctors for ‘sponsored’ foreign trips: Report
New Delhi: Nearly ten months after the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) recommended disciplinary action against 30 doctors who accepted free foreign trips to Monaco and Paris worth Rs 1.91 crore last year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has reportedly taken no action.
The doctors allegedly received lavish trips under the pretext of attending medical conferences. A government-appointed committee found that these trips, funded by AbbVie Healthcare India Pvt. Ltd., were in violation of the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), as reported by The New Indian Express on Wednesday.
Despite this, the names of the doctors remain undisclosed, and the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) has not initiated any disciplinary proceedings.
As per rules, the NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), which regulates professional conduct and promotes medical ethics, needs to dispose off the complaint within six months. According to the norms, a doctor’s license can be suspended if they are found guilty of violating the code of ethics.
However, RTI activist and Kerala-based ophthalmologist Dr KV Babu said that the EMRB has yet to act on the matter. “The MCI ethics regulations 8.7(ii) stipulates that once the EMRB receives the complaint, it should be decided within a period of six months. However, in the case of the thirty doctors, where there is an allegation of professional misconduct, EMRB is still sitting over it. This is despite the apex committee for pharma marketing practices recommending NMC to take action against the thirty doctors last year on December 23 for violation of ethics regulations,” TNIE quoted Babu as saying.
In its order, the committee also directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to evaluate the tax liability of AbbVie Healthcare India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of AbbVie Inc.,and take action in accordance with the Income Tax Act, 1961.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
