Tamil Nadu Doctors’ Association demands strict action against Misleading Ads by Patanjali
Chennai: The medical community in the state is calling for stringent action
against misleading advertisements from Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali. At a recent state
conference in Trichy, healthcare professionals emphasized the need to regulate
unscientific medical information.
Dr G. R. Ravindranath, general secretary of the Doctor’s Association for Social Equality criticized
Ramdev for falsely claiming that Coronil could cure and prevent COVID-19. Dr Ravindranath accused Ramdev of publishing false advertisements and deceiving
the public with unverified medical claims.
Representatives of the Doctors Association for Social Equality argued
that Ramdev’s promotion of Ayurvedic medicines contradicts modern scientific
principles. They demanded strict measures against Ramdev for misleading people
under the pretence of promoting Ayurveda.
Citing Patanjali products as an example, the doctors advocate for a ban
on advertising pharmaceutical products without scientific evidence to support
their use. They insist that policies must be implemented to combat fake
science, superstitions, and anti-scientific notions in medicine, as these can
negatively affect individuals’ health and well-being across the country, reports DT Next.
The association stated, “We demand that the Union Government should apologize to act in favor of advertising such medicines. There should be stringent action against promoting medicines that can be harmful for the patients. The government needs to come up with policies on regulating mixopathy, Vedic medicine, traditional medicine, spiritual therapies and others, being practiced for treating diseases.”
Recently, a report in Reuters stated that a state regulator in India has suspended the manufacturing licenses of 14 products produced by pharmaceutical companies associated with the country’s renowned yoga guru. The suspension comes in response to the repeated dissemination of misleading advertisements regarding the efficacy of the products, as indicated by a government order.
The Supreme Court of India has in recent weeks repeatedly criticized Ramdev for not complying with its directives in an ongoing lawsuit to stop misleading advertisements of some of his traditional ayurvedic medicines. Though the company has already apologized for the unscientific advertisement, the Supreme Court asked whether the apology published by Patanjali Ayurved was as big as the advertisements.
