Maharashtra Medical Council issues notice to two doctors over advertisement

THANE: The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has sought clarification from two senior Thane-based doctors attached to a prominent hospital for allegedly getting involved in advertising their expertise on hoardings.
The notice accessed by TOI says that the doctors ‘were involved in unethical advertisements through hoardings’ which is a violation of Indian Medical Council Regulations, 2002. The notice, dated November 14, has further asked the doctors to submit their written explanations in the matter to the MMC in the next 15 days.
A Thane-based activist had written to the MMC last month pointing out the picture of the two doctors prominently displayed on hoardings erected at various locations in Thane by a prominent hospital functioning in the city for the last several years.
“Doctors are not allowed to advertise themselves nor be part of any promotional and publicity matter. The hospital seems to have exploited the goodwill of doctors for their personal benefit and promoting themselves. I wanted more clarity on the issue as in the future other hospitals could take this as a precedent and start using photos of doctors on their publicity material,” said Sandip Pachange, city youth wing president of the MNS that approached the MMC.
Meanwhile, the doctor’s fraternity justified that the MMC could issue them notices which would be followed by a hearing of both parties. Though, such a situation where doctors have been featured on promotional matter is not the first time, there isn’t much information available about the directives issued by the council in past cases, industry players said.
“Doctors can’t promote themselves and also cannot use their pictures for any publicity material. It could be possible the corporate hospital that they are working for may have used their images without their knowledge but the professionals will have to now present their version,” said Dr Deepak Baid, past president of Association of Medical Consultants (AMC), Mumbai.