The National Medical Commission (NMC), the highest regulatory authority monitoring medical education in the country, is all set to prepare strong guidelines to restrict the nature of advertisements given by corporate hospitals across states and Union territories.

The NMC in its meeting on Thursday decided to form a committee to verify all aspects in connection with advertisements employed by private healthcare establishments including hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres and doctors attached with these corporate facilities. The committee will prepare a report and submit it to the Supreme Court, sources in the NMC said, requesting anonymity. The committee would also explore guidelines on what kind of advertisements could be employed by corporate sector hospitals and doctors, who are associated with these units.

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The new rules will monitor the nature of advertisements by corporate hospitals and medical practitioners to streamline the professional conduct of the latter. There is a provision of ‘Professional Conduct of Registered Medical Practitioners’ in the NMC rules. The NMC’s decision to form the committee comes at the backdrop of a notice issued to the regulatory body for doctors by the apex court.

Earlier this year, a Mumbaibased infertility expert had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the apex court contending that “there is an alarming situation created by unfettered advertising by corporate hospitals and the newly emerged venture capital funded healthcare start-ups”. According to the petition, instances of unethical advertising and illegal direct or indirect solicitation of work by corporate hospitals as well as medical practitioners affiliated with them are reported regularly.

Every city and town across the country is flooded with advertisements through media, billboards, hoardings etc where corporate hospitals and private medical practitioners are found giving publicities in order to woo patients. Sometimes, this trend is both misleading and confusing to patients, felt some healthcare professionals.