HC notice to State on AIDS cure claim

MUMBAI, JAN 29: The Bombay High Court has directed that notices be served upon the Centre, Governments of Kerala and Maharashtra, Drug Con...

MUMBAI, JAN 29: The Bombay High Court has directed that notices be served upon the Centre, Governments of Kerala and Maharashtra, Drug Control of India, National AIDS Control Organisation and two others on two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) urging for action against doctors and clinics who claim to cure AIDS through advertisements in newspapers and internet.

The direction was issued on January 27 by a bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabrahwal who made the notices returnable on February 18 next. One PIL is based on a letter written by Mandar Vaidya to the Chief Justice who suo moto took cognizance of the matter concerning an advertisement issued by a Mumbai-based doctor in a Marathi newspaper in May claiming a cure for AIDS.The PIL also claimed that donations to the 3-year-old government registered clinic, located at suburban Kandivli, were exempted under Section 80 G of Income Tax Act.

The other PIL has been filed by Maharashtra Network for Positive People (MNPP) urging the Centre, Maharashtra andKerala Governments and other authorities engaged in AIDS care to take action against Cochin-based M/S Fair Pharma, Prakash AIDS Foundation, Dr N M Doshi and Vaidya Jagjeet Singh (last three based in Mumbai) for allegedly claiming cure of this disease.

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The PILs urged that there was no known cure for AIDS in modern or traditional or alternate form of medicine. However, through traditional methods or alternate form of medicine one could increase the life span of an AIDS or HIV patient.

In any case there was no medicine or drug which could eliminate the virus from the human body.

The PILs urged that respondents were carrying on unfair trade practices by issuing misleading advertisements and selling unlicenced drugs. They were allegedly duping HIV, AIDS victims by exploiting them to pay high fees ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for treatment of their diseases.

The PILs urged for action against the respondents under Sections 36(A) and 36(B) of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, Sections2(D), 3(D) and 4 of Drug and Magic Remedies Act and Sections 17(C), 18, 33-E, 33-EEC of drugs and cosmetics acts.

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MNPP submitted that M/S Fair Pharma was treating AIDS through ayurveda since 1992 claiming that it could completely cure the disease. A similar claim had been made by Prakash AIDS Foundation which published articles and issued advertisements in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai offering total HIV cure in the form of drugs and medicines to patients.

It was urged that Dr N M Doshi was the founder of the International Showway Centre and purportedly a doctor in alternate medicine from Academy of Health Science. He offered treatment from this centre to cure AIDS and cancer patients. He claims 98 per cent cure of these diseases through naturopathy, psychology, metaphysics and spiritual power.

MNPP urged that respondent doctors and clinics, including Vaidya Jagjeet Singh, were creating websites or issuing advertisements, pamphlets, releases and other material claiming to have cure for AIDSthrough manufacture or sale of unlicensed drugs, treatment or alternate medicine.

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