Close on the heels of the AYUSH Ministry asking Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali to stop the advertising of ‘Coronil’, which has been claimed to care Covid-19, the Uttarakhand government has said it will issue a notice asking how the company got permission to make the kit.
According to sources, Uttarakhand’s state licence authority for Ayurveda has said that Patanjali’s application reportedly stated that it was for an immunity booster and for cough and fever, based on which a licence was issued. The sources said a notice will be issued to Divya Pharmacy in this regard.
AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik said on Thursday it is a “good thing” that Ramdev has given the country a new medicine but it needs proper permission from his ministry. Patanjali sent documents related to the medicines only on Tuesday to the ministry, he confirmed. Ramdev, on the other hand, said in the morning during a yoga session that there was a “communication gap” between the company and the ministry, which has been removed.
On Tuesday, the AYUSH Ministry, taking cognisance of media reports about Ayurvedic medicines developed for treatment of Covid-19 by Ramdev’s Patanjali, asked the company to stop advertising and publicising such claims till the issue is duly examined. The ministry had said that the facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study were not known to it.
Patanjali was informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the directives issued by the Central government in the wake of Covid outbreak. The ministry, this is to be noted, had also issued a notification saying that the requirements and the manner the research studies on Covid-19 with Ayush interventions/medicines should be undertaken.
Subsequently, Patanjali was asked to provide details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for Covid treatment, sites and hospitals where the research study was conducted, protocol, sample size, institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results data of the studies, etc. The ministry also asked the State Licensing Authority of the Uttrakhand government to provide copies of licence and product approval details of the Ayurvedic medicines being claimed for the treatment of Covid-19.