Visit of medicine reps to hospitals: Orissa High Court rejects plea

CUTTACK:  The Orissa High Court has dismissed a petition seeking its intervention into prohibition of visits by medicine sales representatives to hospitals to meet on-duty doctors. The Odisha Sales Representative Union had filed a petition eight years back seeking quashing of the order that the RDC, Central had issued in 2013 not to allow medicine representatives to visit hospitals to meet on-duty doctors.

The union wanted the court to intervene as the eight working hours of medicine representatives overlapped with hospital working hours of doctors and expected a direction for giving a window of one hour for them to meet and interact with the doctors.

In an affidavit, the State government had taken the stand that sales representatives should not be allowed to visit hospitals in the interest of patient care as it is likely to hamper efficiency in service delivery.  The matter was taken up on Tuesday. Taking note of the affidavit, the single judge bench of Justice Arindam Sinha said in view of the State government’s affidavit, no order can be made on the petition by Odisha Sales Representative Union.