SC plea seeks update to Drugs and Magic Remedies advertisement curbs

New Delhi: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to constitute an expert committee to review and update the schedule under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, in line with present-day scientific developments.

The petition also seeks a declaration that AYUSH doctors are covered under Section 2(cc) of the Act as “registered medical practitioners”. The 1954 law aims to control the advertisement of drugs in certain cases and prohibits advertisements for certain purposes of remedies claimed to have “magic” qualities.

Filed by petitioner Nitin Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the plea states the law was enacted to protect the public from false and misleading medical advertisements. It argues that Section 3(d) places a complete ban on advertisements relating to certain diseases and conditions.

Section 3 of the Act deals with the prohibition of advertisements of certain drugs for the treatment of certain diseases and disorders.

The plea contends that AYUSH doctors and other genuine non-allopathic registered medical practitioners are not covered under the exception in Section 14. It claims that this blanket ban prevents them from advertising the availability of medication for serious ailments, leading to public ignorance about such drugs.

It also argues that Section 3(d) imposes a “complete and blanket ban” without distinguishing between misleading advertisements and truthful, scientific and lawful information.

The petition claims that the right to information on diagnosis, prevention and treatment of life-threatening chronic diseases has been overridden by what it calls a disproportionate prohibition under an “archaic law”.

It seeks a direction to the Centre to constitute an expert committee to review, revise and update the schedule of the Act based on present-day scientific developments and evidence-based medical knowledge.