Author’s Note
There are certain diseases and ailments which cannot be cured by any medicine. A good example would be AIDS, there is no medicine that can claim to cure AIDS?
Diabetes can not be cured, it can only be kept in control. Similarly, blood pressure cannot be cured, BP can only be regulated.
Height can not be increased after the ossification of epiphyseal plates. The same goes for Breast and Penis enlargement medicines and cosmetics, which are going to be used as an example in this post.
Any medicine or cosmetics claiming or advertising that it can do any of the above is a fraud and is playing on your insecurity.
The Schedule J of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 enlists the disease, ailments and bodily conditions which can not be cured or changed by any drug or cosmetic and, thus, prohibits pharmaceuticals from making such claims to innocent customers by manipulating or tricking them.
In this post, we shall be dealing with the purpose of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and how Schedule J forbids the manufactures from making fake claims about products.
Table of contents
- Big lies by drugs and cosmetics manufacturers
- Purpose of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act
- How Schedule J protects consumers from misleading advertisements
- The stand taken by the Courts in cases of misleading advertisement by pharmaceuticals – Schedule J
- Side-effects or no side-effects, it’s still a scam
- Conclusion
Big lies by drugs and cosmetics manufacturers
Everyone wants a good sex life and wants to be liked by all. Some companies use it as an opportunity and advertise that their medicines can give you a better sex life or a longer erection. Some claim that their pills can enlarge your male genital.
Women run after medicines and cosmetics which can give their bodies a better shape. But do the medicines and cosmetics work? Do they actually help you get the desired results? Should you rely on the advertisements?
What if the companies try to fraud you by fake advertisements? We shall look into these matters in this post.
Penis enlargement and breast enlargement is a technique to increase the size of the penis and breast through various methods like surgery, ointments, creams, pills, patches, injection, stretching devices and many more but almost none of these work.
Having a small penis or breasts is just due to the genetic and hormonal condition of a human being. It’s not the size of the penis that matters more in a sex life nor the size of the breast can define one’s personality.
Purpose of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act
Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 provides guidelines for the storage, sale, display, and prescription for drugs of different classifications. Before this Act British misrule provided a poor healthcare system to Indian Citizens, after making observations by the Drugs Enquiry Committee and Indian Medical Association during 1920-30 the need arose to formulate this Act.
The main objective of this act is to ensure that the drugs and cosmetics sold in India are of a certain standard and high quality in order to be safe and effective for the consumers. In this age where anything can be sold to people in order to make more money, we have this act which protects the interest of every citizen and impose limitations on inappropriate practices related to drugs.
How Schedule J protect consumers from misleading advertisements?
The Schedule J of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 deals with the regulation and control of the advertisement and publicity of drugs or cosmetics based on their power and potential. The purpose behind the inclusion of Schedule J is to prohibit misleading advertisements for all the prescribed categories given in the list.
The list contains a set of 51 entries which mostly includes the names of the diseases which cannot be cured; they can only be managed. So, any person who manufactures or sells medicines that claim to cure these diseases is not legal.
The companies come up with fancy tag lines that have been seen to have influenced masses. The regulation on the advertisement of such medicines and cosmetics becomes important as these medicines and cosmetics make certain claims in their advertisements which are mostly the basis on which people buy them. An article by the Harvard Medical School[1] tells about the numerous kinds of side effects of using sex stimulating drugs. People aren’t aware of many things in general. Therefore, it is important to regulate the sale of such drugs and cosmetics to protect the citizens.
The stand taken by the Courts in cases of misleading advertisement by pharmaceuticals – Schedule J
People have always brought medicines and cosmetics based on their face value. Legally speaking, such an advertisement can be considered as illegal and such manipulation by way of advertising can be penalized even.
In a very recent judgment of M/s Emami ltd. vs. Nikhil Jain[2], the Honourable District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi has passed a heavy fine against the manufacturing company for showing misleading advertisements. The complainant had filed the case regarding the malfunctioning of the “Fair and Handsome” fairness cream which the company claimed through advertisement to bring a glow to the skin and make the skin fair by using it for a prescribed period of time in a prescribed manner that has been directed by the company themselves. The Honourable Redressal Forum did accept the complaint and held the manufacturer liable for selling products under false claim and therefore fined them with Rs. 15 lacs that is to be deposited in the consumer welfare trust and Rs. 10,000 to be paid to the consumer.
This shows the judicial perspective against the manufacturers who sell their cosmetics under false marketing strategies and fake advertisement.
In a report that has been published by IJMET[3] it has been found that
“Fairness cream ads emphasize on the belief that a person‟s caliber is directly proportional to his/her skin tone through various ads. A survey conducted by dove says around 70% of women won‟t be able to match themselves with the way women are portrayed in the Media. Fairness ads subsiding all the facts about skin tone and the side effects of using fairness products is only highlighting the fair skin tone as a highly valued personality. The kind of beliefs fairness ads emphasizing has created discrimination based on skin tone. Influenced by such thoughts, a significant number of people have expressed their insecurity due to their dark skin tone. This bias has created obsession and made people try more and more fairness products to somehow achieve the desired color complexion as they feel marginalized due to their color complexion.”
Side-effects or no side-effects, it’s still a scam
From the above-discussed cases we can say that no one should believe the medicines or cosmetics by its advertisement specifically those medicines and cosmetics which claim to change one’s biological characteristics, they can have high risk and result in various side effects.
The height growing pills mostly contain Calcium and Glucosamine Sulphate that can make your bones stronger but cannot increase the length of bones, likewise, the fairness creams cannot actually yield the promised result; all of them contain bleaching agents in high quantity that can leftover various side effects like acne, photosensitivity, allergies and skin cancer also.
All medications claiming to change the size of the penis or breast are fraud, they neither give any result nor are supported by science and can lead to nasty side effects like breast cancer, penis desensitization and changes in blood composition.
There are various kinds of erectile dysfunction and barely any advertisement talks about it. The medication if not taken under proper guidance has the capability to cause hormonal imbalance that results in body pain, vision changes, flushes or complete impotency in males[4] and the breast enlargement pills which are so advertised to give your body a better shape might also give rise to breast cancer like serious diseases.[5]
Even if you are lucky to not have any side effects, you will still be wasting money because these products won’t work. By buying such products you are making these companies rich by feeding on your insecurities. Do not let them fool you.
Conclusion
These drug marketing industries offer you an easy solution to a problem that you may or may not have.
Their advertisements are designed in such a way that they use your insecurity and tell you that you need it.
In this situation, you need to realize that their goal is not to help you but to sell their medicines and cosmetics.
These companies are not allowed to make claims in their advertisements. In case they do so and the products don’t give the desired results as claimed by the company, the Consumer Court has already set an example by fining Emami Ltd.
- Will a pill really help your sex life? , Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, published on – 12/2019, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/will-a-pill-really-help-your-sex-life. ↑
- M/s Emami Ltd. vs. Nikhil Jain, Case no. 53/2013 by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Central), Kashmere Gate, Delhi) ↑
- Sindhushree M T, A Study On The Influence Of Fairness Cream Advertisement On The Purchase Behaviour And Belief Systems Of Youth In Mysore, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Issue 7, Vol. 9, Pg No. 496-504. ↑
- Julie Stewart and Melissa Methews, Do Penis Enlargement Product Ever Work?,https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/a19524433/penis-enlargement-products/, and last accessed on 08-04-2020. ↑
- By Sarah Harding,What Are the Side Effects of Using Breast EnlargementPills?,https://www.leaf.tv/3684114/what-are-the-side-effects-of-using-breast-enlargement-pills/ Last accessed on 08-04-2020. ↑
