The Directorate of Drug Control is cracking the whip on those haunting consumers with misleading advertisements. Earlier, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum directed the Centre and the State to ban advertisements that claimed to offer bogus medical cures.
Officials said that over 16 different cases of misleading advertisements were reported in four months till July 2013. These included those that offered cure for incurable diseases or remedy through a drug or other means.
The Directorate prosecuted people in 24 different cases of health-related print advertisements print that offered bogus remedy under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954 in the year 2012, officials said.
They added the acts including Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, which was framed decades ago, penalised quacks offering bogus remedy through ads with fine.
Officials noticed that more number of print advertisements were those offering remedies for sexual-related problems and a few promising cure for deadly ones like HIV.
“There was also a product advertised that was actually a plate, claiming that when placed on the chest it could prevent heart-related problems,” an official said.
The Directorate had also taken steps to curb advertising on electronic cigarettes. Despite the crack down on these quacks, officials said the quacks had become more aware of the intricacies of the laws governing such advertisements and had increasingly resorted to ways they cannot be penalised.
An official said there were both new and repeat offenders or quacks who were advertising in print.
“They know that if they advertise with a particular drug or offer remedy to an incurable disease, they would be caught. So, they advertise in such a way they don’t get caught,” the official explained.
However, they said that the laws did not cover misleading advertisements on television. “There are many health oils that offer remedy for hair fall. There needs to be more consumer awareness,” an official said.
The Directorate of Drugs Control have investigation and helped prosecute about 301 cases in total in 2012 that included other offences like lack of proper maintenance of records for purchase of drugs in pharmacies, sale of drug without prescription, non-renewal of licence and others.