Need to frame guidelines for advertisements by hospitals

Indian Medical Council Act very clearly forbids a doctor to advertise . It is same about other professional bodies also . Unfortunately hospitals are not under purview of Medical Councils and this creates a very peculiar condition.

Hospitals are seen placing big and sometimes misleading advertisements in media , online platforms and by putting hoardings all over city . They sometimes promote experimental and evolving technologies as the only solution to a medical condition, which starts spreading confusion among lay public .

There is urgent need to treat a doctor and hospital equally as far as code of medical ethics are concerned. There shouldn’t be these biases in regulation.


Big hospitals are putting big money in online promotions. There are many portals, which started as facilitators of online appointment but under facade of PRIME services , have started demanding Rs 300 to Rs 400/ connection . A patient searching for an eye doctor in Kalkaji is shown doctors in Greater Kailash and Shahdara. This cannot be called listing. This is clear cut advertising, which is against ethical practice till now, unless code of conduct is amended and advertising is allowed . Most of the subscribers of these Prime packages of online portals are big corporate hospitals and big practitioners.

There is urgent need to modify rules. Either advertising should be allowed for doctors also or it should be banned for hospitals also . Cuts and commissions by hospitals also should be considered unethical practices. Medical ethics and code of conducts should not become shackles for individual doctors to give advantage to hospitals.

A system of fair play should be brought in whole system.

There should be formulation of clear cut guidelines regarding
1. Online presence . What is ethical and what is unethical
2. Online and telephonic medical consultation
3. Code of conduct of hospitals

Hospitals and doctors can not be treated separately. Ultimately doctors work under hospitals also .

I hope transforming India portal , will take us this issue and there will be a break on misleading and unfair advertising by hospitals.
Appropriate legal balance will be brought to stop hospitals from unethical behaviours and they will also be brought under Medical Code of Conducts.
Appropriate guidelines for online portals will be brought, which are shamelessly marketing medical services and working against basic tenets of medical ethics . There is urgent need to save profession from becoming a commodity otherwise their will be only businessmen running this sector High time that citizen groups intervene. more