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In early 2020, as India was battling the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and medical institutions were debating treatments for the viral disease, Patanjali Ayurveda stepped in with a big claim.
Three months after the first case of Sars-CoV-2 infection was recorded in India, the Ayurvedic company has launched Coronil tablets.Ramdev, its founder and yoga guru claimed It was the “first evidence-based, researched treatment” for the new coronavirus infection.
In Mumbai, doctor Jaish Lele was appalled. Not only did this claim threaten to force an already panicked population into unscientific measures, but it clearly had state support. Two ministers in the Modi government, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, attended Coronil’s launch, but Ramdev was not wearing a protective mask.
Lele applied for freedom of information from the Ayush Ministry, which regulates traditional medicine systems. “I asked whether the ministry collaborated with Mr. Patanjali on Coronil, or whether the certification was in line with the requirements set by the World Health Organization, as Mr. Patanjali claimed,” Lele said. . The ministry stated: no such approval It was provided.
At that time, Coronil was only approved as an “immune enhancer” by the Ayush Ministry.
Before Lele could refute Patanjali’s frivolous claims, the damage was done. He said the presence of senior People’s Party ministers was like a stamp of approval for the product. Patanjali has been around for just four months since its launch. sold Coronil kits worth Rs 250 million.
Since then, Mr. Lele, who is also the general secretary of the Indian Medical Association, India’s largest association of allopathic doctors, has begun closely tracking and documenting Mr. Patanjali’s misleading claims.
The list was long. “They placed ads in national newspapers claiming that their drug could treat diabetes, thyroid and fatty liver disease,” he says. “We started collecting evidence.”
In June 2021, he filed a writ petition on behalf of the Indian Medical Association in the Supreme Court against Patanjali’s deceptive advertisements and the Union Health Ministry supporting its claims.
April 1, Kerala Narcotics Control Bureau filed a complaint A case was filed in Kozhikode court against misleading advertisements by Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy.
The next day, while hearing the petition of the Indian Medical Association, the Supreme Court raised the company For continuing to defy the company’s orders by publishing misleading advertisements about its products.
The company refused to accept the apologies from Ramdev and Patanjali managing director Balkrishna and asked why it could not file a contempt case against them. The next public hearing will be held on April 10th.
The court’s rigor, while important, is just one of many warnings the company has received and chosen to ignore.
Past notices/warnings
November, Patanjali Gave The company told the Supreme Court that it would not violate “laws related to advertising and branding of products manufactured and sold by the company,” and that it would not be allowed to make casual statements in the media that claim medicinal efficacy or go against any medical system. I promise not to announce it. shape”.
Patanjali soon forgot the work.After a month, it was published A front page ad in a Chennai newspaper claimed to cure blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, liver failure, kidney failure, cancer and heart problems.
The ad promoted a variety of products manufactured by Patanjali’s manufacturing arm, Divya Pharmacy, for these ailments.
Why are such ads a problem? Not all ads that make medical claims are against the law. However, the Drugs and Magical Cures (Offensive Advertisement) Act 1954 prohibits advertising for 54 diseases.
This includes diseases for which there is no cure, such as cancer, diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease, which Patanjali claims can be treated with its medicines. Such advertising can result in a fine of up to six months.
No such action has yet been taken against Patanjali.
Meanwhile, the company’s business is thriving. Since its founding in 2006, Patanjali has established markets in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and some European countries, according to its website. Within India it has over 47,000 retail counters and warehouses in 18 states. The company plans to operate plants in six more states.
powerful alliance
It was not unusual for two ministers to be present at the inauguration of Coronil. By all accounts, Ramdev has a strong political ally in the Central People’s Party government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi established the Patanjali Institute in Haridwar in 2017 to support yoga and Ayurveda.
In 2015, after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, the government gave Ramdev Z-category security, the third highest level in the country. It is unclear what kind of threat the yoga guru faced.
Perhaps this gave Patanjali immunity from any punitive action.
From 2021 till date, Dr. KV Babu, a Kerala-based ophthalmologist, has submitted multiple disclosures to the government to understand whether action has been taken against Patanjali for misleading advertisements. Filed a claim.
Two of Babu’s patients, who had glaucoma, stopped treatment in 2019 to try Ayurvedic products, but returned in worse condition. This led him to take a closer look at the claims Patanjali was making about Ayurveda.
“Till now, the company has not been prosecuted by the Uttarakhand government,” Babu said. scroll.
Under India’s drug laws, Uttarakhand has the power to take punitive action against Patanjali since the company’s manufacturing unit is located in the state.
In 2022, Patanjali began touting that children with type I diabetes could be cured by switching from insulin to medication. “This was a major public health disaster,” he said.
Babu has written to the Uttarakhand and Union governments drawing attention to these allegations. “I must have complained about 10 different Patanjali advertisements,” he says.
In April 2022, based on his complaint, a notice was served on Patanjali by the Uttarakhand government regarding advertisements to treat arthritis, blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Patanjali stopped these ads in May 2022, but resumed them in July 2022. The advertisement continued until January 2023.
In March 2023, the government reported to People of India that there were 53 complaints of misleading advertisements of various drugs reported to state licensing authorities between August 2022 and March 2023. All these were related to Patanjali products. Most of the complaints were against BP Grit, which claims to control blood pressure, and Madhu Grit, which targets heart disease.
“The only action taken seems to be a notice to Patanjali,” Babu said. “No fines, no jail time.”
Babu hopes the Supreme Court will finally do what the government has failed to do: stop Patanjali from misleading the public.
“Convincing people to stop treatment and try drugs without scientific evidence is like playing with their lives,” Babu said. “That has to stop.”
scroll Questions were sent to Patanjali about the charges against them. If they respond, the piece will be updated.
This report was supported by a grant from the Thakur Family Foundation. Thakur Family Foundation has no editorial control over the content of this article.
