Home ›› 07 Nov 2021 ›› Nation
The presence of a bevy of medical representatives (MRs) working for various pharmaceutical companies makes a mess with medical services at Naogaon General Hospital.
Sources said at least 1,500 people in 11 upazilas under the district visit the hospital each day.
Patients allege that they do not get timely treatment as the medical representatives crowd around the doctors’ chambers and persuade the physicians to prescribe medicines of their respective drug companies instead of free or low-cost medicines found at the hospital pharmacies.
During a recent visit to the hospital, The Business Post found that countless patients and representatives started thronging the hospital premises from 8:30am.
The mischief happens when the specialist doctors start seeing the patients in their chambers.
The patients allegedly said the doctors comply with the request of medical representatives regarding prescription of medicine in return for unknown benefits.
They are said to be entering the room with a bag full of medicines, which cannot be found at the designated hospital pharmacy and sells for a high price at the pharmacies outside.
In addition, these representatives also work as the doctors’ assistants. They also take pictures of the prescriptions at their own sweet will, alleged the patients.
When this correspondent asked one of the representatives from SKF Pharmaceuticals about his role here, he replied that they help the doctors whenever the number of patients increases as it is difficult for the doctors to handle patients with no assistants.
“Yes, we sometimes take pictures of the prescriptions to see if the doctor has prescribed the medicines we suggested. But this is a part of our job, and I do not think there is any crime in it,” the representative said.
Asked about it, Dr Omor Ali Sarder, a dental surgeon of the Department of Dentistry at the hospital, said medical representatives do not listen to them and crowd around their chambers regularly, making it difficult for them to treat patients.
“They forcefully enter my chamber and start to annoy me. I did not tell them to call patients to my chambers. I do not suggest medicines under any influence,” claimed the surgeon.
However, this correspondent found one representative, who was in conversation with a doctor of the Department of Ayurveda at the hospitals for a long time and monitored the prescriptions afterwards.
When asked, the medical representative said: “I used to be a patient of this doctor, and I was only sitting there while he was treating his patients.”
Rasel Hossain, who came for treatment at the department from Bolorampur village in Badalgachhi upazila, told The Business Post that he was waiting for hours in a long queue to visit the doctor.
However, when his turn came, he saw the doctor write the medicine suggested by the representative sitting beside him.
Along with Rasel, Suraiya, Pakhi and Akkas, who regularly visits the hospital for treatment, said they are deprived of getting due services from the hospital.
It is often the case that they fail to buy the costly medicines from pharmacies.
“I think it would have been so much better if the government had made it mandatory for doctors to prescribe medicines available at the hospital designated pharmacies,” suggested Akkas, a patient.
In Fiscal Year 2020-21, the hospital procured medicines worth Tk 5 crore -- some 75 per cent of medicines from Essential Drug Company Limited, and the rest from elsewhere.
Residential Medical Officer Dr Abu Ansary said they would soon conduct drives at the hospital and take measures against the perpetrators.
“We have warned the medical representatives not to turn up at the hospital and also started monitoring their activities on the hospital premises,” said the RMO.
Dr Ibne Imam, caretaker of the hospital, said they would take punitive measures against the doctors and medical representatives involved in the illegal practice.
