The watchdog met in emergency session yesterday to discuss Thursday's ruling by the Court of Appeal. A three-judge panel rejected the council's appeal against a Court of First Instance ruling that restrictions on advertising by the medical profession were unconstitutional.

Council chairwoman Felice Lieh Mak said: 'We believe the chance of winning an appeal would be extremely small and don't want the matter to drag on too long.'

The lower court's ruling came at the end of a judicial review initiated by Kwong Kwok-hay, deputy medical superintendent of the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, who claimed the ban amounted to a breach of his constitutional right to freedom of expression.

John Leong Chi-yan, chairman of the council's licentiate committee, said restrictions on doctors advertising served the public interest 'as long as the degree of restrictions is not excessive'.

The council told the appeal court it believes restrictions are necessary to prevent advertising eroding trust in the profession or causing the sick and the vulnerable to be exploited.

David Fang Jin-sheng, who chairs the council's ethics committee, noted that the Court of Appeal had recommended medical ads be allowed in only a certain number of publications. 'It would be impossible to regulate medical ads [if they were allowed in any publication],' said Dr Fang, medical superintendent of the private St Paul's Hospital.

He said doctors would have to follow rules about what was appropriate advertising. For example, he said, ads must be truthful and avoid exaggeration.

Dr Kwong, who launched the case, said the council's decision was 'good for the doctor and the public'.

'For the public there will be more information and transparency ... it will improve the reputation of good doctors,' he said.

On Friday, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said he hoped the council would amend its code of practice on advertising 'as soon as possible'. He had nothing to add last night.

Choi Kin, the president of the Hong Kong Medical Association, which represents most of the city's 8,000 doctors, said the council's decision had been expected.

A representative of young doctors was unhappy about the possibility of freer advertising.

Frontline Doctors' Union chairman Ernie Lo Chi-fung said the concern was that citizens would have information from only one sector - the big medical groups that can afford to advertise.

'Young doctors or those who have solo practices may not be able to afford advertising and it would be unfair to them,' Dr Lo said.

'More importantly, we cannot control the content of the advertisements, which may exaggerate claims about new technology, for instance.'

Medical sector legislator Kwok Ka-ki said the Medical Council should have fought the case to the very end.