Doctors to face punishment for taking kickbacks

Doctors who take kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies or accept "red envelopes" from patients will face punishments ranging from reproach to dismissal.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said in a joint circular on Thursday that doctors are banned from promoting medical ads and taking commissions from the prescription of drugs.

Doctors are not allowed to accept illegal donations, nor are they allowed to purchase or use medical products, according to the circular.

The move to promote clean work styles among doctors came as part of a more comprehensive campaign against corruption launched by the Communist Party of China at the end of 2012.

In December last year, the leadership of the Communist Party of China began to promote an "eight-point" set of guidelines to ban extravagance and formalism from events attended by officials.

Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Education posted on its website a regulation that requires ministry officials to turn down gifts, banquets and entertainment activities offered by schools and local education authorities.

The regulation said ministry officials should "not cause trouble" and interrupt normal order during trips to schools and local education authorities.

It also prohibited receptions, seeing-off ceremonies, and sight-seeing tours for ministry officials.