Pharmaceuticals ban: Doctor ignores explanation notice

Rabin Giri Dharan, June 13:

A three-day notice by the authority of the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences to the ENT department head Dr Sangeeta Bhandari to explain why she prevented certain pharmaceutical companies from entering the department, expired yesterday.
Dr Bhandari has not complied with the deadline to explain why she prevented pharmaceuticals
including Aristo, Quest, Merk, Asian, Norvitis and Time from entering the department.
Hospital Superintendent Dr BP Das said, “We will decide on future action after she furnishes her reply.”
On May 16, The Himalayan Times had carried a report on Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) department head Dr Bhandari arbitrarily blacklisting certain pharmaceuticals and causing problems for patients.
Sangeeta Shah, chief of the Drug Administration Department regional office Biratnagar, said the pharmaceutical companies reportedly blacklisted by Dr Bhandari are reputed ones.
Shah said, “No doctor has the authority to blacklist pharmaceuticals or their products on their own. Procedure demands that a complaint must be filed in this regard to the DDA.”
After the May 16 THT story, Dr Bhandari has put more strongly-worded notices on the door to her chamber and in every room and on walls of the department denying them access to the department.
Defending her decision, Dr Bhandari told this daily, “These companies don’t cooperate in educational programmes initiated by the department and obstruct our work. I have blacklisted the pharmaceuticals for their nuisance value.”
source-http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aNPata0sgqzpca6Ua3sa.axamal &folder=aNPataiaoanaaal&Name=National&sImageFileNa me=&dtSiteDate=20080614