The first question one may like to ask is whether there is a law which prevents doctors from advertising. The answer to this is NO. The fact of the matter is that there is no law or statute in this country which makes it illegal for a doctor to advertise his or her services. To the question: Can doctors advertise?
the answer is NO—the reason being that the Professional Code of Ethics, which they are obliged to uphold, prohibits them from advertising. In other words, though it is not illegal to advertise, it is unethical to do so. And importantly, breach of professional ethics is not just a matter of doing the morally wrong thing, but it is actionable by the Medical Councils, if and when they receive a complaint though theoretically they can also take suo moto action. Before we delve into the implications of advertising by doctors, it would be useful to understand the difference between…
