SC plea seeks review of restrictions on treatment ads under Drugs and Magic Remedies Act

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to review and update provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, arguing that the law no longer reflects current scientific knowledge or medical practice, according to media reports.

The plea was filed by Nitin Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey. It seeks the formation of an expert committee to re-examine the list of diseases and conditions covered under the Act, which restricts advertisements for certain treatments and remedies claimed to have “magic” qualities.

The petitioner has also asked the court to declare that practitioners of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) fall within the definition of “registered medical practitioners” under Section 2(cc) of the Act. The plea argues that the current interpretation excludes AYUSH practitioners from the scope of lawful medical advertising, despite their formal registration.

The Act was enacted to protect consumers from false and misleading medical advertisements. However, the petition contends that Section 3(d) imposes a blanket ban on advertising treatments for specified diseases, without distinguishing between deceptive claims and accurate, evidence-based medical information.

It further argues that Section 14, which provides exemptions for certain medical practitioners, does not adequately cover AYUSH doctors. As a result, the plea says, such practitioners are unable to inform the public about legitimate treatment options for serious or chronic illnesses.

According to the petitioner, these restrictions limit patients’ access to reliable information on diagnosis, prevention and treatment, particularly for life-threatening conditions. The plea states that the prohibition under Section 3(d) overrides the public’s right to truthful medical information and does not account for advances in scientific research since the law was enacted more than 70 years ago.

The petition has urged the Centre to periodically revise the schedule under the Act through an expert-led process, to balance consumer protection with the dissemination of scientifically sound medical information.