Cure needed for medical adverts
Li ShiChina Daily  Updated: 2005-03-22 06:54

Mark Twain once wrote: "Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising."

Although he did not live in an era where there was an advertising frenzy, like our modern age, the talented writer rightly touched the core of marketing.

As China embraces the market economy, advertising has become an indispensable means of selling goods. Commercial ads flood the media.

The problem is that with loose regulation, many false or fake products and services appear trustworthy.

Consumers become victims.

Misled by deceptive medicine ads, 2.5 million Chinese take the incorrect medicine every year, according to the State Administration of Industry and Commerce.

Ads financed by mostly private medical institutions have also been the target of public criticism in recent years. Last year, a series of reports from medical institutions putting out bogus ads exposed the tip of an evil iceberg and has greatly shaken public confidence in the sector.

Seeing the public so upset, the authorities have suggested banning ads from medical institutions in the media.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed during the just-concluded National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) sessions that it is considering submitting an application to the State Council to ban ads promoting medical services.

The idea was warmly received by NPC deputies and CPPCC members. Some people went further by suggesting that medicine advertising be cancelled too.

It is quite understandable to hear strong criticism against medical advertising. In a probe into these ads between January and November last year, the national medical supervision authorities found 62.3 per cent of TV advertisements examined violated the Advertising Law. From June to November last year, 95 per cent of more than 10,000 investigated advertisements in newspapers and on radio programmes were also found to have breached regulations.

Exaggeration is a common trick in bogus ads, which often play on people's desperation to coax them into trying a particular medicine or treatment. Celebrities are also often invited to tell the audience they have benefited from the advertised products or services.

Such false ads jeopardize consumer rights and must be stopped.

The question is: Should we pull all medical advertising, including those that do not violate the rules?

In a market economy, advertising is a legitimate and morally acceptable way to promote goods and services. It is a natural way to spread information. So long as it is fact-based, it benefits consumers.

All products and services that can be sold in the market should be allowed to advertise, except those that potentially-damage the public good, such as tobacco.

The country also forbids the advertising of prescription medicines. But over-the-counter medicines and medical services are not banned by any law.

If all medical ads were banned, consumers would be safe, but they would also be denied access to important medical information.

The crux of the issue is not whether a product or service should be allowed to advertise or not, but whether proper regulations are in place to ensure producers and advertisers do not lie.

In China, the Advertising Law stipulates that concrete promises must be avoided. But many medical advertisements give specific figures to prove the high cure rate of their products. Some even brag that they can cure nearly everything.

We may hope consumers are intelligent enough to tell honest promotions from cheating ballyhoo. But we cannot blame consumers' gullibility if things go wrong. Instead, the consumers are justified in asking: Who is responsible for allowing bogus ads to appear in the media?

That is the regulators, advertisers or producers, the media, and, last but never least, the law.

Although Chinese medical supervisors claim they have consistently cracked down on illegal advertising, the severe situation indicates they have not done an adequate job. Many illegal ads are in circulation for months or even years before they are pulled. The time lag is too long.

Medical supervisors should not escape blame.

As for the producers, it is their moral and legal obligation to release honest information. If they fail to fulfil their duty, they must be condemned and punished.

The media should also face up to its responsibilities.

In a perfect world, those who have done wrong are properly punished to scare off other potential wrong-doers.

In China, the system is not working effectively.

Advertisers and the media, if they are found to have done wrong, should be fined a maximum five times the price of the advertised product, according to the Advertising Law. But the fine is often too small a sum compared with the exorbitant profits producers and the media can reap from deceptive ads.

A revision of the relevant articles of the Advertising Law is necessary. Harsher punishment must be brought in to make lawbreakers pay a price more costly than their potential gains.

And fining is not the sole method of regulation. Industry and commercial authorities can resort to cancelling, temporarily or permanently, lawbreakers' licences.

Either way, industrial regulators and law enforcers must strengthen their role and bring in more severe punishment to protect consumers' interests.

As for the media, it is more important for them to protect the public good than make profits. Before the public becomes more knowledgeable, the media is morally obliged to provide information in accordance with legal and professional norms.

Lack of self-discipline may bring them instant money, but also damages their public image and ultimately costs them their future.

As for the MOH and other medical management departments, it would be a disaster to impose an all-out ban on commercial ads for medical products and services.

It would do no good, and would also show that the medical authorities are not able to regulate the market.

More seriously, it would go against the principle of the rule of law.

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