Doctor couple from SoBo lose licence for advertising guaranteed pregnancy

The medical council has suspended registrations of a Colaba-based doctor couple running an IVF clinic by making promises of guaranteed pregnancy.

The couple advertised “guaranteed pregnancy” and offered “money back” if the treatment failed.

According to the Medical Council order, the couple – Dr Aniruddha Malpani and Dr Anjali Malpani – will not only have to shut their clinic on Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg for three months, but they will also not be able to practice elsewhere during this period.

The complaint against the couple was filed by the Advertising Standards Council of India in 2014 and the suspension of their registrations came after nearly a three-year long inquiry during which the doctor couple was called to depose before a committee on three occasions.

Though the Malpanis removed the offer – which guaranteed pregnancy in four IVF cycles and a full refund if the treatment failed – from their web site in December 2014, the medical council continued its probe.

The final order suspending the two doctors’ registration for three months was issued this month under the Medical Council’s Code of Ethics, 2002.

This is the first time the Maharashtra Medical Council has cancelled the registration of doctors over misleading ads.