Govt seeks details of Patanjali's COVID-19 remedy claim, halts it from advertising now

Ramdev earlier in the day launched Ayurvedic medicine Coronil which he claimed will help in curing a patient of the infectious disease.

Taking cognizance of the news from media, the Ministry of Ayush stated that facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study 'are not known to the Ministry.'

"The concerned Ayurvedic drug manufacturing company has been informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder and the directives issued by the Central Government in the wake of COVID outbreak, " the ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry said that it sought details of the composition of the drug from Patanjali Ayurved based in Haridwar and until the results of the claim are verified, the company has been refrained from advertising the medicine.

"In order to make this Ministry aware of the facts of the aforesaid news and verify the claims,  Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has been asked to provide at the earliest details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for COVID treatment; site(s)/hospital(s), where the research study was conducted for COVID-19; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results from data of the study (ies) and stop advertising/publicizing such claims till the issue is duly examined," the statement said.

"Ministry has also requested concerned State Licensing Authority of Uttrakhand Government to provide copies of license and product approval details of the Ayurvedic medicines being claimed for the treatment of COVID -19," it added.

Launching the medicine earlier in the day from Haridwar, the company said that clinical control trials of the medicine were carried out adhering to standardized protocols and within the span of 3 to 15 days, all the COVID-19 positive patients transformed into negative ones without observing any mortality,  said reports.

According to reports, the medicine was launched after a research conducted jointly by the Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar and the National Institute of Medical Science, Jaipur.