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Medical profession has a defined code of ethics that governs the provision of services. A physician has to work within the legal and ethical framework, said Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.
Elaborating on this, Dr Aggarwal further added that under Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations Act, 2002, (6.4.1) a physician shall not give, solicit, or receive, nor shall he offer to give solicit or receive, any gift, gratuity, commission or bonus in consideration of or return for the referring, recommending or procuring of any patient for medical, surgical or other treatment. A physician shall not directly or indirectly, participate in or be a party to act of division, transfer, assignment, subordination, rebating, splitting or refunding of any fee for medical, surgical or other treatment. This also applies to the referring, recommending or procuring by a physician or any person, specimen or material for diagnostic purposes or other study work. Under 7.19 it further says “A Physician shall not use touts or agents for procuring patientsâ€.
Under American Medical Association Code of medical ethics (6.02) payment by or to a physician solely for the referral of a patient is fee splitting and is unethical. A physician may not accept payment of any kind, in any form, from any source, such as a pharmaceutical company or pharmacist, an optical company, or the manufacturer of medical appliances and devices, for prescribing or referring a patient to the said source. Also referrals to healthcare facilities, clinics, laboratories, hospitals, or other healthcare facilities that compensate physicians for referral of patients are engaged in fee splitting, which is unethical. Healthcare facilities should not compensate a physician who refers patients there for the physician‘s cognitive services in prescribing, monitoring, or revising the patient‘s course of treatment. Offering or accepting payment for referring patients to research studies (finder‘s fees) is also unethical.