Hospitals and clinics are still breaking advertising rules with misleading and exaggerated claims of success. Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) continues its campaign against healthcare providers and agencies making unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is continuing its campaign against healthcare providers and agencies making unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims. In recent months more than half of the adverts it has investigated and upheld complaints against are on healthcare. Among a long list of culprits, recent examples include:
- Stem Cell Society of India
The advertisement claims “Prime Minister Modi’s vision for stem cell therapy”. The advertiser has used the photograph of the prime minister in the advertisement without his permission, which is misleading and confers an unjustified advantage on the product advertised and tends to bring the PM’s name into ridicule/disrepute. This violates Chapter I.3 of the ASCI code.
- VLCC Healthcare
The claims in the advertisement, “Listen to your DNA for weight loss. Presenting for the first time VLCC DNA- Slim a scientific weight loss solution based on your DNA”, “Running 4KM daily helped your colleague lose weight. But may only make you lose your cool” and “Lose four kilograms or get your money back”, were considered to be misleading by exaggeration and implication.
- Dr. Amit Sharma
The claim in the advertisement, “Completely cure HIV AIDS and any kind of cancer through Ayurveda treatment”, was not substantiated. Also, specific to the claim related to complete cure of cancer, the clinic is in breach of the law as it violated The Drugs & Magic Remedies Act.
- Hair Doc Trichology Hair Clinic
The claims in the advertisement which states, “Complete baldness treatment”, “White hair control”, “Specialized HDHT+ for 100% natural hair growth”, “Awarded with Keshratna”, “Stop hair loss” and “Advanced non-surgical mesotechnology for hair loss control”, were not substantiated. The visuals of before and after the treatment were misleading. Specific to the claims related to complete baldness treatment (a condition referred in Schedule J of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act) is in breach of the law as it violated The Drugs & Cosmetics Rule.
- Kiran Homeopathic Clinic
The claims in the advertisement, “Successful treatment of piles, stones —”, were not substantiated. Specific to the claims related to successful treatment for piles, the ad is in breach of the law as it violated Schedule J of The Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940 and Rules 1945.
- Nirog Ayurvedic Centre
The advertisement’s claims, “Treatment for paralysis now completely possible in himachal patients of stroke, non functioning of legs, hands and tongue—- can now be saved from paralysis by treating them with Ayurvedic medicine developed by N.A.C —”, “Clear improvement can be seen within few hours in new patients and within few days in case of old patients by this medicine”. Claims were not substantiated. Also, specific to the claims related to treatment/cure for paralysis and epilepsy, the advertisement is in breach of the law as it violated The Drugs & Magic Remedies Act.
- Cure Sight Laser Centre
The claims in the advertisement, “Wavelight EX-500 which is US FDA approved and can remove one eye number in just 1.4 second”, were not substantiated.
- Rafael Medicare Centre
The advertisement’s claim, “An option beyond bypass and stents EECP treatment”, is misleading since the indications for this treatment are limited. The advertisement also claims, “Safest, USA FDA approved treatment for chest pain and heart failure”, which was not substantiated.
- Netralaya Super Specialty Eye Hospital
The claims “Freedom from glasses and contact lens”, “First time in Ahmedabad to get all types of eye treatments under one place”, “World’s best and fastest Laser”, “Removal of one number in 1.4 seconds”, were not substantiated with supporting technical and factual data.
- Vasan Eye Hospital
The claims in the advertisement “World’s largest eye care network”, “Get rid of glasses permanently”, “They give accurate without fail eyesight in just 15 mins”, “One can enjoy vacation without glasses” and “ICL can be implanted in dry eyes and thin cornea”, were not substantiated.
- Cure Sight Laser Centre
The claims in the advertisement “India’s No.1 Lasik centre”,“Complete freedom from glasses and contact lens without operation”, “The most experienced team of doctors for LASIK in Gujarat and whole India” and “Worlds best technology and fastest refractive suit by Alcon” were not substantiated.
- Clear Vision Eye Hospital
The claims in the advertisement of “quality assurance”, “c-lasik wavefront and topolink treatment available”, were not substantiated with supporting evidence to prove that the hospital possesses equipment for wavefront and topolink treatment. The claim of “Extremely safe FDA approved” was considered misleading by exaggeration in view of the procedure not being free from risks or complications.
The examples above are only a small selection from the scores of misleading adverts in recent months. The guilty companies range from small local clinics to national organisations and even a raft of multinational groups with Indian subsidiaries.
This is a serious concern for India’s medical tourism believability and agencies, particularly new ones, unused to the established practice in India of exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims need to do much more on checking the validity of the treatment to their customers.
ASCI is making a valiant effort to change the culture but the sheer volume of healthcare complaints upheld each month is just the tip of the iceberg. It is facing an uphill struggle as its powers are limited.
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