The Drug and Magic Remedies (Prevention of Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954

A hoarding at a railway station promises that a packet of herbal powder will cure diabetes in seven days. A pamphlet pushed into your hand outside a temple offers a blessed ring that removes every illness. Somebody, somewhere, believes them and stops taking proper treatment. Advertisements for medicines are not like advertisements for soap, because a false claim can cost a life. This topic looks at the old Act of 1954 that Parliament passed to stop such claims, what it forbids, who is punished, and how the Consumer Protection Act 2019 now works beside it.

In two minutes

The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954 bans advertisements that claim a drug or a magic remedy can cure, prevent or treat certain listed conditions or purposes, or that mislead the public about a drug, and punishes the advertiser and publisher.

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