Dharan, May 15:

Doctors associated with the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department of Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) have blacklisted six pharmaceutical companies on the charge of not cooperating with their department.

Copies of the list have been pasted on the gate of the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and at the office of the ENT department chief Dr Sangeeta Bhandari.

The blacklisted companies are: Aristo, Quest, Merck, Asian, Novartis and Time.

In a notice attached with the list, the doctors have told representatives of the blacklisted companies not to enter the hospital.

It may be noted that only the Ministry of Health can blacklist companies if their products are sub-standard or if the products are sold/distributed without registering them with the authority concerned.

“Nobody has the authority to blacklist any drug unless there is concrete proof that the drugs are sub-standard,” chief at the regional office of the Department of Drug Management (DDM) in Biratnagar Sangeeta Shah said.

All ‘blacklisted’ companies have been registered and no complaint has so far been lodged against their products, the DDM said.

“Those persons blacklisting the companies on their own must face legal action if companies concerned lodge complaints against the persons at the DDM or the Ministry of Health,” Shah added.

Representatives of the blacklisted companies have expressed their concerns about the doctors’ move.

“Our company was blacklisted as we did not provide help as demanded by the ENT department of the BPKIHS during a workshop organised by the department some time ago,” a representative of a blacklisted company claimed.

“Though drugs are sold as per recommendation of doctors, we don’t think we have to meet all their demands,” representatives of the blacklisted companies said.

“The department has the right to blacklist any company that does not help perform academic task of the department concerned,” chief of the ENT department Bhandari said.

“I don’t mean that all products of the blacklisted companies are sub-standard. We prepared the list taking into account non-cooperative attitude of the companies.”

The BPKIHS administration is unaware of the blacklisting. “We will investigate the matter,” assistant director of the BPKIHS Dr Arbind Sinha said.

“Doctors have the liberty not to prescribe medicines, which they think are sub-standard. However, they cannot blacklist companies simply because the latter have not fulfilled their personal interests,” he added.