NMC Rules on Patient Testimonials and Before-After Photos (2026)
Updated 8 October 2026 to the National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners (public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, dated 6 October 2026, in force immediately). Paragraph numbers in this article refer to those guidelines. General information, not legal advice.
This page covers testimonials, patient stories and before-and-after content across every channel. For the complete rulebook, see our guide to the NMC advertising guidelines 2026. For specific formats: patient testimonial videos on YouTube, patient story Reels on Instagram, before-after photo rules in plastic surgery, and Google reviews, which are a different question.
The short answer
| Not allowed for promotion | Still possible |
|---|---|
| Patient testimonials in any format (text, photo, video, audio) on the website, social media, ads or WhatsApp | Patients leaving their own genuine reviews on Google or other platforms, after a neutral request sent by the clinic to every patient |
| Before-and-after photos used to promote a doctor or hospital | Anonymised before-and-after or case images for scientific or educational purposes, with consent (para 8.1(v)) |
| Patient "success stories", journey Reels and celebrity patients | Educational case discussion led by the doctor, with the case anonymised and no outcome promises |
| Sharing or quoting patient reviews as promotion | Factual information about the hospital: departments, facilities, equipment, services, accreditation, charges (para 8.3) |
| AI-generated "patients", actors posing as patients, staff testimonials | Public-health talks in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)) |
What the guidelines say
The guidelines apply to registered medical practitioners and to hospitals and medical institutions, and are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002. These are the provisions that decide testimonial and before-and-after questions:
| Provision | What it says | Who it binds |
|---|---|---|
| Para 3.2, Explanation V | No RMP or institution may solicit, purchase, procure, manipulate or cause to be published fake, paid or misleading reviews, ratings, testimonials, endorsements or recommendations. An RMP shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media. | RMPs and institutions (first sentence); RMPs (second) |
| Para 8.1(ii) | No direct or indirect solicitation or self-promotion; no engaging a third party to market medical services; no use of name, image, voice or testimonial for promotion. | RMPs |
| Para 8.1(v) | No promotional case presentations, before/after photographs, celebrity patients or success stories, except for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised consent. | RMPs |
| Para 8.1(xi) | No celebrity, influencer, patient or employee testimonials; commercial relationships disclosed; no third party used to do indirectly what is prohibited. | RMPs |
| Para 8.3 | Hospitals may publish factual, objective, verifiable information, without solicitation, inducement, superiority claims, cure guarantees or promotional portrayal of an individual RMP. | Hospitals and medical institutions |
| Paras 6.1-6.4 | Patient information or images only where law permits, with consent. Consent does not make a prohibited testimonial or before-and-after lawful (6.2). Identifying features must be blurred or cropped (6.4). | All |
| Para 7.2(b) | No synthetic patients, testimonials or endorsements. | All |
| Para 7.4 | No identifiable patient data (names, faces, anomalies). | All |
| Para 4.4 | Publishing through an agency, platform or influencer does not absolve the RMP or institution of content it authorised, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly permitted. | RMPs and institutions |
The DPDP Act 2023 and Rules 2025 and the IT Act 2000 apply alongside (para 7.6), and ASCI's advertising code still governs advertising claims generally.
Testimonials and reviews are different questions
A patient's own review on Google is the patient's speech on a third-party platform. A testimonial is the practice using a patient's words or image to promote itself. The guidelines treat them differently:
- Asking for reviews. A hospital or clinic may ask all of its patients for genuine feedback. It may not offer incentives, ask only the patients it expects to be happy, or buy or fake reviews (Explanation V; para 8.1(xii)). An individual doctor may not request reviews on social media for professional promotion.
- Using reviews. Screenshotting a five-star review into an Instagram post, a website "what our patients say" slider or an ad turns it into a testimonial. That is out (Explanation V; para 8.1(xi)).
The full position on reviews is in Google reviews for doctors under the NMC guidelines.
Before-and-after photos
Para 8.1(v) names before/after photographs directly. For promotion, they are out, whatever the specialty and however the images are captioned or disclaimed. Para 6.2 confirms that consent does not cure a prohibited before-and-after.
The exception is scientific or educational use with anonymised consent: case images in a journal article, a conference presentation, or teaching material for clinicians or the public whose purpose is to explain, not to attract patients. Identifying features must be blurred or cropped (para 6.4). The images should not sit next to a booking button, a price or an offer. For hospitals, advertising is limited to factual, verifiable information without cure guarantees or superiority claims (para 8.3), which before-and-after results do not fit.
Aesthetic practices are most affected; see before-after photo rules for plastic surgery and plastic surgery marketing under the NMC guidelines.
What remains possible
- Anonymised educational case discussion led by the doctor, with consent where real case material is used, no outcome promises and no call to book (paras 6.4, 8.1(v), 8.1(iii)).
- Doctor-led educational content in the doctor's own name and designation, without promoting the employer (para 8.2(iii)) and without soliciting patients (para 5.1). On YouTube, see NMC guidelines for doctors on YouTube.
- Factual institutional information: departments, facilities, equipment, services, accreditation status and charges (para 8.3), and a doctor directory with names, recognised qualifications, specialties and registration details (para 9.1).
- Genuine patient reviews left by patients on review platforms, gathered without incentives or filtering.
Consent record for permitted educational use
Where real case material is used for a scientific or educational purpose, the consent record still has to be right. A record that meets DPDP's specific, informed and unambiguous standard captures:
| Field | What to capture |
|---|---|
| Patient identity | Name and MR number, captured against the active record (never published) |
| Specific purpose | The educational or scientific use (journal article, CME talk, patient-education explainer) and where it will appear |
| Data categories | Exactly which images, measurements or case details will be used |
| Anonymisation | How faces, names and other identifying features will be removed (paras 6.4, 7.4) |
| Retention period | 12 or 24 months; expires unless renewed |
| Withdrawal method | A single contact (email and phone) and a removal SLA (for example 72 hours) |
| Language of consent | Hindi, English or a regional language, as the patient prefers |
| Signature or OTP timestamp | Signed form scan or OTP-verified e-consent, with a witness from the institution |
| No inducement | An explicit statement that care does not depend on agreeing and nothing was offered in return (para 8.1(x)) |
For educational case material, every direct identifier (name, face, city, exact age, voice) is removed, not masked to an initial. Clinical detail is kept only as far as the teaching purpose needs it.
Auditing the testimonials you already have
The guidelines were in force immediately, so testimonials already live on your channels are being published today. A practical audit:
- Inventory every place patient content appears: website sliders and pages, Google Business Profile posts and photos, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp catalogues and broadcast lists, ad libraries, print collateral and lobby screens.
- Remove testimonials, patient stories, before-and-afters, celebrity-patient content and reshared reviews used for promotion. Log each removal with a timestamp.
- Keep only anonymised educational material with a valid consent record, and only where it does not sit alongside booking prompts, prices or offers.
- Replace with doctor-led educational content and factual institutional information.
- Brief your agency. Content an agency publishes on your behalf remains your responsibility (para 4.4).
Inside Content HQ, patient testimonials, before-and-after images and outcome claims are flagged at the editing stage, before a piece advances.
What happens if testimonials stay up
Para 10.1 sets out graded action the State Medical Council may contemplate against an RMP: a warning plus mandatory ethics training for a first violation, censure plus a monetary penalty for a second, suspension of 3-6 months for a third, suspension of 6-12 months for serious violations, and removal from the register for 1-3 years for repeated violations. A show-cause notice comes first (para 10.2). Hospitals and medical institutions are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant State Act.
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Are patient testimonials allowed under the NMC guidelines?
Not for promotion. Explanation V to para 3.2 of the NMC guidelines of 6 October 2026 bars an RMP from requesting or sharing patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media. Para 8.1(ii) bars the use of a testimonial for promotion, and para 8.1(xi) bars celebrity, influencer, patient or employee testimonials. Paras 8.1(ix), (x) and (xii) also bind hospitals, and para 8.3 limits hospital advertising to factual information.
Does written patient consent make a testimonial lawful?
No. Para 6.2 says consent does not make a prohibited testimonial or before-and-after lawful. Consent is still required whenever patient information or images are used in a permitted way, for example anonymised case material for scientific or educational purposes (paras 6.1-6.4, 8.1(v)), but it cannot turn a promotional testimonial into a permitted one.
Are before-and-after photos allowed for doctors in India?
Not for promotion. Para 8.1(v) bars promotional case presentations, before-and-after photographs, celebrity patients and success stories, except for scientific or educational purposes with anonymised consent. Any educational use must blur or crop identifying features (para 6.4) and avoid identifiable patient data (para 7.4). A hospital ad showing before-and-after results would also fall outside the factual information allowed by para 8.3.
Can a clinic share patient Google reviews on its website or Instagram?
No, not as promotion. Republishing patient reviews in ads, posts or on the website turns them into testimonials. Explanation V bars an RMP from sharing reviews for professional promotion on social media, and para 8.1(xi) bars patient testimonials. A hospital or clinic may ask all patients for genuine feedback on Google, with no incentives and no filtering, and leave the reviews on the review platform.
Can we use anonymised patient stories?
Only for genuine scientific or educational purposes, with consent, and with identifying features removed (paras 6.4, 7.4, 8.1(v)). An anonymised story used to attract patients is still a promotional success story or testimonial. Educational case discussion led by the doctor, with no outcome promises and no call to book, is the form that remains open.
Can AI-generated or actor testimonials be used instead?
No. Para 7.2(b) bars synthetic patients, testimonials and endorsements, and para 7.2(a) bars misleading AI-generated content. Para 7.2 also prohibits AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest. An actor presented as a patient would be misleading in the same way.
What can happen if a doctor keeps publishing testimonials?
Para 10.1 sets out graded action that may be contemplated by the State Medical Council: a warning and mandatory ethics training for a first violation, censure and a monetary penalty for a second, suspension of 3-6 months for a third, and longer suspension or removal from the register for serious or repeated violations. Hospitals are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant State Act.
Related reading
- NMC guidelines for doctors on social media
- Content HQ product page
- Medical fact-check workflow inside Content HQ
- E-E-A-T amplification per content piece
- Client review workflow that eliminates the back-and-forth tax
How ICG works within these guidelines
ICG is a healthcare marketing agency. Our clients are hospitals, clinics and medical institutions, which may publish factual, objective and verifiable information about themselves (paras 8.3 and 9.1). For individual doctors, ICG supports only genuinely educational content in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)). For doctors and their practices, we run patient-education-driven campaigns: awareness content that helps patients understand their condition and their options, published in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)) and kept free of the self-promotion that para 8.1(ii) bars.
The work is education-first and runs across six channels:
- Awareness content on YouTube. Doctor-led educational videos on public health and disease awareness, in the doctor's own name and designation, without promoting the employer organisation (para 8.2(iii)). See YODA and YouTube marketing for healthcare.
- Research articles and blogs that help patients understand their options: information shared in the normal course, not promotion (para 3.2, Explanation I). See healthcare content marketing, ICG research reports and healthcare SEO.
- Expert answers on Reddit and Quora from named, disclosed accounts. No anonymous or fake posts, no undisclosed commercial relationships and no manufactured engagement (paras 8.1(xi) and 8.1(xii)). See Reddit and Quora programmes.
- Awareness campaigns on Meta, run from the hospital's or clinic's own page, with no discounts, offers, free procedures or other inducements (paras 8.1(x) and 8.3). See Meta advertising for hospitals and clinics.
- NMC-compliant Google Ads landing pages: factual departments, services and facilities, with no "best", "No.1", "100% success", "painless" or "guaranteed" claims (paras 8.1(iii) and 8.1(ix)). See Google Ads for hospitals and clinics.
- "Learn More" instead of "Book Now" on patient-facing pages, so that a page informs rather than solicits (paras 8.1(ii) and 8.3(ii)).
All six rest on three kinds of content: scientific (evidence-based, checked by a qualified clinician), persona-based (written for the questions a specific patient group asks) and consumer-based (built from how people search, compare and decide). AI-assisted drafts go through human medical review, and AI-generated content that is published carries an AI source mark (para 7.2). We do not publish patient testimonials, before-and-after images or superiority claims, and we never buy, incentivise or gate reviews.
Free NMC compliance check. We review a hospital's or clinic's website, Google Business Profile and social channels against the October 2026 guidelines and send back a written list of fixes.
See what the check covers · Request the check · Book a 30-minute call
General information, not legal advice. Source: NMC public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, 6 October 2026.
