Healthcare Ethics and Promotional Advertising: A Difficult Relationship

Participation of health-care professionals in the advertising business has been subject to a raging debate since days beyond recall. It has gained more acceptance but was despised in the past. The Code of Ethics of many National Medical Councils around the world has maintained that for a medical professional to engage in commercial advertising of himself or some other product is unethical-owing to the influence and the cultural authority that a health-care professional holds. This paper reviews instances where medical professionals and bodies have been reported to have explicitly or tacitly lent their support to brand endorsements. Malpractices within the advertising industry in relation to medical fraternity-such as untrue/conjectural claims, distortion of words of a reliable medical body etcetera have also been discussed.