The exclusion of medical methods from patentability has been a globally contested issue since early times. Objections to granting exclusive rights over medical methods have their roots in morality – where it is considered wrong to limit the availability of potential lifesaving treatments to individuals in need. “Patent offices and courts around the world generally agreed with the assessment of the medical community and effectively prohibited patents on methods of medical treatment through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” This paper will aim to analyze the purpose, limits and morality of the exclusion of medical methods from patentability - globally as well as in India. Further, this paper will examine the ways in which countries have sought to limit the grant of patents to certain categories of subject matter in a bid to promote access to public health goods in contrast to some countries which have decided to grant patentability for medical treatments. This paper will also review the scope and ambit of Section 3(i) of the Patents Act in India.