New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the weak enforcement of the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), stressing that the framework must include a strong, consumer-friendly mechanism to address unethical marketing by pharmaceutical companies.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said that procedures under the government’s UCPMP 2024 must be robust enough to ensure that “every person or the consumer who is cheated should be having access and proper remedy.” The Court questioned why the current code still lacks a solid, enforceable, and user-friendly system for lodging complaints.

The observation came during the hearing of a plea seeking stronger rules to curb unethical marketing practices by pharmaceutical firms.

Court Question

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