SC Urges Centre: Update 'Magic Remedies' Act Amid Misleading Ads & Outdated Law

• A Supreme Court plea seeks to update the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, due to a rise in misleading medical ads.
• The petition urges the Centre to form an expert committee to revise the Act's schedule in line with modern scientific developments.
• It also demands the inclusion of AYUSH doctors as "registered medical practitioners" under the Act, arguing the current law excludes non-allopathic practitioners.
• Petitioner Nitin Upadhyaya contends the Act's blanket ban (Section 3(d)) restricts truthful, scientifically validated information and public access to legitimate treatments.
• The plea, filed by advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, calls the 1954 law "archaic" for disproportionately limiting information on life-threatening diseases.

Why It Matters: SC plea highlights urgent need to modernize India's drug advertisement law for public safety and information.