July 25, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
MUMBAI, India – Abbott is looking for answers following the alleged suicide of a medical representative in India who was reportedly under pressure to achieve periodic sales targets, ETHealthworld reported this morning.
The medical representative was identified as 35-year-old Ashish Awasthi. When his body was discovered last week there was an alleged suicide note that blamed the Chicago-based company for his death. Awasthi was part of Abbott’s neuro life division, according to Medical Dialogues. He was with the company for about two years, serving as a Territory Business Manager, the Hindu Businessline reported.
According to reports, Abbott employees, as well as members of a local medical representatives union in the area have staged some demonstrations calling for the company to provide “adequate compensation” for the family of Awasthi, as well as better service conditions for field representatives. An Indian union for medical workers wrote to Abbott on behalf of its members calling into question concerns over the high pressure of meeting sales goals, mental harassment of sales employees and punitive action against staff.
Manish Thacker, secretary of Indore Unit of Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh Medical & Sales Representatives Union, blamed Abbott for unethical trade and marketing practices and for forcing its employees to involve themselves in unethical businesses, Medical Dialogue reported.
Abbott has refuted any role in the death of the rep, saying he was among the region’s top performers and had “recently qualified for a training certification meant for high performers.” The company also said its policies, practices and employee training are aligned with applicable laws, regulations and industry codes, Medical Dialogues added.
Abbott has had a long presence in India and employs more than 14,000 people in that country. Abbott India told The Hindu Businessline that the company has been “consistently rated as a preferred employer by employees and prospective talent, over the past few years.”
The pharma and biotech industry in India has seen its fair share of problems in recent years, particularly with contract research organizations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and more recently the European Medicines Agency have called into question data integrity at the Semler Research Center in Bangalore, India. In 2008, the U.S. FDA banned the sale of medicine from Indian drug maker Ranbaxy due to manufacturing violations. In March 2015, the FDA issued a warning letter to Apotex over manufacturing violations at another plant in Bangalore.
India has also seen an increase in the number of counterfeit drugs, in part due to an overburdened healthcare system, especially in smaller towns. Reuters reported India has just 1,500 drug inspectors responsible for more than 10,000 factories, supplying medicines for a population of 1.2 billion and exporting to nearly 200 countries.
