Patanjali ads claiming to cure heart, liver issues come under govt scanner

Following a complaint filed by a Kerala doctor, the Ministry of AYUSH has advised certain states to take necessary action against Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved for illegally promoting products that claimed to cure diabetes, heart and liver diseases. Dr KV Babu, a Kannur-based ophthalmologist, had lodged a complaint against three advertisements published by the Patanjali groups, citing that they were breaching the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954 and Rules, 1955, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

“Drugs claiming to cure certain diseases cannot be advertised. These advertisements appeared in February. So I sent a complaint on February 24 to VG Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, opposing one of the advertisements that claimed the product would cure heart problems and blood pressure by reducing cholesterol in a week,” KV Babu said. The complaint was later forwarded to the AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha, homoeopathy) Ministry.

On March 1, KV Babu filed a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking to know the status of the complaint, following which he got a response on April 19. Attached with the response was a letter from the Drug Policy Section of the AYUSH Ministry to the Director of Ayurvedic and Unani Services, advising action against the advertisements. “As the subject matter comes under the jurisdiction of the State Licensing Authority (SLA), the matter may be examined for withdrawal of advertisement which is contravening the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and rules made there under. SLA is advised to take necessary action in this regard and an action taken report may kindly be submitted to this Ministry,” the letter says. As per a report in The Hindu, similar advertisements in Karnataka and Rajasthan had formerly come to the Ministry’s notice, following which the respective SLAs were issued notices. The Ministry has specifically sought action against the advertisements of three Patanjali products — Lipidom, Livogrit and Livamrit.

As per Section 106 in The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, no drug can claim to cure the diseases or ailments specified in Schedule J. “Diabetes, blood pressure etc… come under this Schedule, and the advertisements claim that those products can cure these diseases,” Babu said. Section 3 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 prohibits “the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease, disorder or condition specified in the Schedule, or any other disease, disorder or condition (by whatsoever name called) which may be specified in the rules made under this Act.”