Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Updated : August 6, 2013 11:32 AM IST
Today, the Maharashtra Medical Council issued a warning to five doctors for advertising their practices, which is illegal according to the Code of Medical Ethics of the Medical Council of India. This move raises a lot of questions about whether it's an infringement of the rights of both the doctors and patients in this new digital age. Shouldn't doctors, who've worked long and hard to get where they are be allowed to market their skills? Or is it completely against the Hippocratic Oath that doctors treat their profession like any other commercial venture?
The rules don't hold good for all 'doctors'?
Bejon Misra, one of the country's premier consumer rights activist, says, 'The spirit behind not letting doctors advertise is that they shouldn't entice patients into their practice. All doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. Advertising and self-promotion goes against the very tenets of this oath.'
On the other hand, Dr Anirudh Malpani, of Malpani Infertility Clinic, feels it's wrong to stop doctors from advertising. 'Every single day I'm bombarded with advertisements by people who claim that they'll solve everything from obesity to hair loss. These kinds of advertisements are mostly by non-allopaths. They fool the common people into paying huge amounts of money for these services which don't work. Wouldn't it be much better if a standard guideline to advertise was set in place by the Medical Council of India which could moderate the ads and allow doctors to showcase their skills? It's also unfair to the patients because currently they have to depend on the word-of-mouth referrals to find doctors. What if a lay person doesn't know any doctors? Should he simply suffer because he doesn't know anyone?'
The times they are a changin'
The Code of the Ethics of Medical Council of India is not relevant in this day and age, according to Dr Malpani. A remarkably similar scenario played out in the United States and the Supreme Court there decided that banning advertising completely was against the First Amendment (the guarantee of right to free speech). The Court held that not allowing doctors to advertise was unfair to them - and also unfair to patients, who need access to information on doctors, so they can select the best for themselves. Today, the American Medical Association has given guidelines for ethical advertising by physicians, and these guidelines permit physician advertising provided it is not false, deceptive or fraudulent. I believe a similar approach where the MCI provides the guidelines would be great in India.'
Is online advertising allowed?
The laws dealing with online advertising are still a bit hazy. Mr Misra says, 'Any sort of promotion where money is involved would be construed as advertising which would go against the Code of Ethics. That would include online sources including paid listing sites and paid advertising on social networks.' However, what about a website owned by a doctor which provides information about the specialty and engages its audience? Would that be construed as advertising because running a website or blog definitely has some costs running, so wouldn't that be advertising? Adds Dr Malpani, 'Like I said, we have to move with the times. The MCI can set down the guidelines for advertising; in fact they can take a further step and create a site which can have information about doctors, their specialties and diseases, etc. to help people become more informed. We are living in the digital age and we should exploit that.'
It's quite clear that this is just the beginning of the debate about medical advertising. We've also written to the MCI to clarify this stand and hopefully we'll get a reply. Watch this space for more.
Read: MCI's no advertising rule won't work in the digital age
If you want to discuss the issue, write to us at health@corp.india.com with the subject line: Should doctors be allowed to advertise?
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