UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Form panel to check pharma practices, SC directs govt.

Q1. The Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), 2024 was notified by a government department as an executive code and has not been given statutory backing. With reference to a code of this nature, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A breach of the code cannot, by itself, expose a company to criminal prosecution, because penal consequences require the authority of a law.
  2. Since the code is issued by the Union government, it binds registered medical practitioners in the same way as it binds pharmaceutical companies.
  3. Its publication by government notification gives it the status of delegated legislation even in the absence of a rule-making power in a parent Act.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q2. A pharmaceutical company pays for a foreign holiday for a doctor and the doctor's spouse to promote its brand. Consider the following possible consequences under the framework in force as of 2026: Which of the consequences given above can follow?

  1. The doctor can face disciplinary action, including suspension, by the national medical regulator.
  2. The Department of Pharmaceuticals can reprimand the company for breaching the marketing code.
  3. The company can be prosecuted and fined under the UCPMP 2024 itself.
  4. A complaint against the company can be examined by an ethics committee for pharmaceutical marketing practices.
  • A. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 4 only

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Pharmaceutical companies cannot claim a tax deduction for expenditure on freebies given to doctors.
  2. This disallowance rests on the UCPMP 2024, which is the law that prohibits companies from giving gifts to healthcare professionals.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Because the right to health is not expressly mentioned in Part III of the Constitution, courts cannot enforce it as a fundamental right.
  2. The Supreme Court has interpreted the right to life under Article 21 to include the right to live with human dignity and access to basic necessities.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q5. The Supreme Court is examining, in writ proceedings, whether pharmaceutical marketing that induces irrational prescribing is adequately regulated. With reference to the right to health as part of Article 21, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Since Article 21 is framed as a guarantee to every person, its protection of health is not confined to citizens.
  2. It can be invoked only by a patient who has personally suffered from an irrational prescription, and not by an association such as a federation of medical representatives.
  3. Failure of the State to provide an adequate remedy against practices that distort prescribing can be raised before the Supreme Court.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q6. In October 2026, the Supreme Court did not lay down pharmaceutical marketing rules on its own; it directed the Union government to constitute an expert committee on the subject. With reference to this approach, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The direction obliges Parliament to enact a statute regulating pharmaceutical marketing within a fixed period.
  2. The Court can attach timelines to a direction to the executive, both for constituting a committee and for its report.
  3. The committee's recommendations will not, by themselves, carry the force of law.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q7. Consider the following pairs of a regulatory function in India's pharmaceutical sector and the legal basis on which it currently rests: Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

  1. Fixing ceiling prices of scheduled medicines — An order issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955
  2. Prohibiting doctors from accepting gifts from drug firms — Professional-conduct regulations of the national medical regulator
  3. Prohibiting companies from giving gifts to doctors' family members — Rules framed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q8. With reference to gifts and other benefits extended by pharmaceutical companies to doctors, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Because the doctor chooses the drug while the patient bears its cost, the patient's price sensitivity acts only weakly as a check on inducement-driven prescribing.
  2. Such inducements can tilt prescriptions towards particular brands even when cheaper equivalents are available, raising patients' out-of-pocket spending.
  3. Denying a tax deduction for expenditure on such freebies raises the post-tax cost of this form of marketing for the company.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only