The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, is an Act of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

that controls the advertising of drugs in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It prohibits advertisements of drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties and makes doing so a

cognizable offence Cognisable offence and non-cognisable offence are classifications of crime used in the legal system of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Non-cognisable offences includes misbehavior, public annoyance etc., while cognisable offences are ...

Overview

The act defines "magic remedy" as any

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

, or other object claimed to have miraculous powers to cure, diagnose, prevent, or mitigate a disease in humans or animals. It also includes such devices claimed to have power to influence structure or function of an organ in humans or animals. The law prohibits the advertising of drugs and remedies for *inducing miscarriage or preventing conception in women *improving or maintaining the capacity for sexual pleasure *correcting menstrual disorders *curing, diagnosing, or preventing any disease or condition mentioned in an included schedule The originally included schedule contained a list of 54 diseases and conditions: The act stated that the schedule may be changed later to include more diseases for which there are no accepted remedies or for which timely consultation with a registered medical practitioner (as defined under the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 or Indian Medical Councils Act, 1956; includes other state laws too) is required. The act stated that the Central government must make these changes in consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board and

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

and

Unani Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The term '' Yūnānī'' means 'Greek', ref ...

practitioners, if necessary. The penalty carries a maximum sentence of 6 months imprisonment with or without fine on the first conviction. The term may be up to a year in case of any subsequent conviction. All company members will be deemed guilty if the convicted party is a company.

Criticism and future amendments

The law is rarely enforced, and several such products are freely available to the public. It is considered severely outdated as 14 of the diseases on the list are now curable, and newer diseases like AIDS are not on the list. Some advertisements of these categories also appear on cable television channels with little repercussions. Proposed amendments to this law have also raised questions regarding the status of traditional medicine systems like

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and

concerning modern medicine.

References

Acts of the Parliament of India 1954 Pharmaceutical industry of India Advertising in India Advertising regulation Drug control law in India Regulation in India {{India-law-stub

Overview

Criticism and future amendments

See also

References