Doctors in Kenya, to advertise or not?

NAIROBI: Doctors in Kenya will, starting next month, be allowed to market their services. This comes as part of regulatory measures taken in the wake of the referral-for-cash scandal reported in the media a few weeks ago.

Although the adverse implications of physician advertising are the subject of a fierce and sustained debate, there is almost no scholarly discussion on the ethical repercussions of banning physician advertising. However, the issues that have held this ban in place include: Uncertainty about the physician’s interests - that patients must trust the physician to put their wellbeing ahead of possible gains when taking medical decisions.