Guwahati: The Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (August 18) that Dolo-650’s manufacturers had given doctors gifts worth a whopping Rs 1,000 crore as payment for prescribing the tablet.
Before a court presided over by justice D.Y. Chandrachud, senior attorney Sanjay Parikh argued on behalf of Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Association of India that Dolo had spent Rs 1,000 crore on giveaways to get its anti-fever drug supplied to patients.
Justice Chandrachud said that it is a serious issue and even he was prescribed the same during Covid and said, “I was also asked to have the same when I had Covid.” He added, “This is a serious issue and matter.”
A reply must be submitted within 10 days on behalf of the Central government, which is represented by Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj.
The Income Tax department searched the Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical company Micro Labs Ltd, which produces Dolo-650, in July. The searches were conducted in response to allegations of tax evasion.
Fever of Unknown Origin, or FUO, is the phrase used by doctors to refer to fever, and MicroLabs’ use of it in brand promotion helped it become more credible.
A Forbes article states that since the COVID-19 outbreak began in 2020, more than 350 million Dolo-650 pills have been sold, generating $400 crore in revenue for Micro Labs Ltd year.
As per research firm IQVIA, the pharmaceutical industry sold roughly 7.5 crore strips of Dolo-650 yearly before the pandemic started. It climbed to 9.4 crore strips before reaching 14.5 crore strips by the end of 2021, which is almost twice as many as in 2019.