NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry may soon take “appropriate” action to amend the proposed long-pending Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954, which is aimed at taking stringent action against misleading advertisements, including Ayush medicines.
The move comes in the wake of directions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) following an RTI filed by Dr K V Babu, a Kerala-based ophthalmologist, who had flagged that the crucial Act has been kept in cold storage since February 3, 2020, when the proposal was first announced.
Babu, who had written to the PMO last year on December 7, received a response that his complaint had been forwarded to the Union Health Ministry.
The health ministry, which had not responded to him earlier despite his earlier RTIs on the issue, in its January 16 reply, said that “action on the issue will be initiated at the appropriate time.”
Reacting to the health ministry's reply, Babu said, “I believe it is a positive development as it has come after the intervention from the PMO. The proposed amendment will strengthen the D&MR Act. I hope it is enacted soon.”
The proposed D&MR Act was formulated after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health in March 2018 criticized the non-enactment of stringent laws against misleading ads of Ayush drugs.
The amendment to the D&MR Act, 1954, which prohibits the advertisement for specific purposes of remedies and treatments alleged to possess magic qualities, was proposed by the ministry on February 3, 2020. This act applies to all drugs, including Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani drugs, and Homoeopathy medicines.
The amendments that were proposed in 2020 included 24 more diseases and disorders, including drugs for treatment for enhancing sexual performance, fairness of skin, improvement in the height of kids and adults, and premature ageing. The Act also proposed to increase penalties, which include jail term – from six months to five years - and a fine, varying from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh - depending on first, second and subsequent violations.
But Babu said since November 9, 2022, there has been no “file movement,” and the proposal has been “under suspended animation for the last four years.”
The RTI activist said he filed an RTI with the health ministry in November last year on the issue. But he received no response, and so he wrote to the PMO.
Following his complaint to the PMO on December 11, 2023, the PMO said that his application has been “forwarded online for action as appropriate through public grievances redress and monitoring system (CPGRAMS) to the Department of Health and Family Welfare.”
“It has been six years since the parliamentary standing committee had expressed grave concerns about misleading Ayush medicines. But the ministry put it in cold storage. I hope now, they implement the Act after the PMO intervention.”