Published May 21, 2026 | 1:36 PM ⚊ Updated May 21, 2026 | 1:36 PM
Representational image. Credit: iStock
Synopsis: India’s booming aesthetic medicine sector has been jolted by a CDSCO notice banning injectable cosmetics. Issued on 18 May 2026, it clarifies that cosmetics cannot be injected, targeting clinics offering “glow drips” and skin shots. The move closes a regulatory loophole, restricts misleading claims, and raises uncertainty over whether qualified dermatologists and surgeons are included.
India’s booming aesthetic medicine market has received a sharp regulatory jolt. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the country’s national drug regulator, has issued a public notice making one thing unambiguously clear: cosmetics cannot be injected into the human body. Full stop.
The notice, dated 18 May 2026, comes as beauty clinics, wellness centres and aesthetic chains across urban India have been aggressively promoting injectable treatments ranging from glutathione “glow drips” and skin-brightening shots to anti-ageing cocktails and mesotherapy cocktails, often marketing them under the broad, convenient label of “cosmetic procedures”.
Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, a cosmetic is defined as any article intended to be “rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, or introduced into, or otherwise applied to, the human body” for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering appearance.
CDSCO has now drawn a hard line. “Products supplied in form of injectable preparation do not fall under the definition of cosmetics,” the notice states.
“No cosmetic is permitted to be used as injection by consumer/professionals/aesthetic clinics. Cosmetics are only intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed to human body.”
The regulator further clarified that “no cosmetic is permitted to be used in treatment by professionals/individuals. Cosmetics are only for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance of human body or any part thereof.”
For years, a lucrative grey area has existed where injectable aesthetic products were imported, sold and administered under loose cosmetic branding, bypassing the far stricter regulatory pathways that apply to drugs and medical devices. Once a product enters the body through a needle, it occupies an entirely different legal and safety space from a cream or serum applied to the skin.
CDSCO’s notice appears squarely aimed at closing that loophole. Aesthetic clinics, salons, medispas and wellness chains that have been offering injectable skin treatments under the cosmetic umbrella are now on notice that such practices may constitute violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Cosmetics Rules, 2020.
Beyond the injection issue, the regulator has taken direct aim at misleading marketing.
The notice is explicit: “No cosmetic may purport or claim to purport or convey any idea which is false or misleading to the intending user of cosmetics.” It also warns that “no person shall alter, obliterate or deface any inscription or mark made or recorded by the manufacturer on the container, label or wrapper of any cosmetic.”
This is particularly relevant given the sweeping claims routinely made for injectable beauty products, including permanent skin whitening, collagen regeneration, detoxification and anti-ageing reversal. Such claims, which position cosmetic products as having therapeutic or medical effects, are prohibited under existing rules.
The regulator additionally referenced the Bureau of Indian Standards’ list of generally not recognised as safe (GNRAS) and restricted ingredients, signalling concern over unverified or banned substances making their way into injectable formulations, particularly imported products and compounded mixtures.
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The notice has, however, generated genuine uncertainty within the aesthetic medicine community, and much of it centres on a single word: professionals.
The notice prohibits use of injectable cosmetics by “consumers, professionals and aesthetic clinics”, but does not clarify whether registered dermatologists and plastic surgeons fall within that bracket.
Hyderabad dermatologist Dr C Karishini put the concern plainly: “The notice says that no cosmetic is permitted to be used as an injection by consumers, professionals, or aesthetic clinics. But who exactly falls under the category of ‘professionals’? Does it include registered dermatologists and plastic surgeons, or is it aimed at cosmetologists, aestheticians, and unqualified practitioners? There is no clarity on that.”
The ambiguity is far from trivial. Fillers, Botox, PRP, skin boosters and mesotherapy are mainstream procedures routinely performed by qualified dermatologists and plastic surgeons, often for both aesthetic and reconstructive purposes.
As Karishini noted, “most modern aesthetic procedures involve injectables”, and many are performed not merely for beautification but for medical or reconstructive reasons as well.
“If dermatologists and plastic surgeons are included under this restriction, then it raises practical questions about who would legally perform these procedures, considering Botox, fillers, boosters, and PRP have become mainstream parts of aesthetic medicine,” she said, adding that “the wording appears too broad, and there is a genuine lack of clarity on the scope and intent of the notice.”
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
