Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s Competition Committee has urged businesses advertising medical services to comply with advertising legislation and refrain from providing consumers with false or misleading information.
The agency noted that medical service advertisements have recently included claims exaggerating treatment outcomes, safety or effectiveness.
Examples include promises to permanently cure a disease, guarantee recovery within several days, ensure absolute safety or the absence of side effects, as well as claims that all patients will recover.
The Committee warned that guaranteeing the outcome of a medical service, promising absolute safety, denying contraindications and individual characteristics of the body, or promising that patients will be satisfied with the result may violate legal requirements.
In addition, medical services that are not specified in a medical practice license may not be advertised.
Under Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Advertising,” improper advertising is advertising that misleads or may mislead consumers due to inaccuracies, ambiguity, exaggeration, concealment of information, violations of requirements concerning the time, place and method of distribution, as well as other legal requirements.
Under Article 47 of the law, the dissemination of improper advertising or refusal to provide counter-advertising is subject to a fine equal to 70 times the basic calculated value.
The Committee also recalled that under Article 7 of the Law “On Consumer Protection,” damage caused to a consumer as a result of purchasing a product, work or service due to false advertising or information must be fully compensated by the manufacturer, service provider or seller.
The Competition Committee said it systematically monitors medical service advertising and urged businesses to bring their advertising materials into compliance with current legislation.
