Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev was the talk of the town yesterday as he claimed that his Patanjali group had developed a cure for the deadly respiratory disease, Coronavirus. The moment Baba Ramdev announced his ‘Coronil’ drug in the Press Conference at Patanjali headquarters in Uttrakhand, the whole country across social media platforms went abuzz with speculations about the authenticity of Ramdev’s claims.
#आयुर्वेदविजय_कोरोनिल_श्वासारि#कोरोना की एविडेंस बेस्ड प्रथम #आयुर्वेदिक औषधि, #श्वासारि_वटी ,#कोरोनिल का संपूर्ण साइंटिफिक डॉक्यूमेंट के साथ लॉन्च pic.twitter.com/mydlFEBJFb
— Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar (@pyptharidwar) June 23, 2020
Government not impressed
ICMR, which is the apex medical body and nodal agency for the Coroonavirus treatment in India, has declined to be associated with the new medicine. When asked about coronil, ICMR officials said that they do not deal with ayurvedic medicines, AYUSH Ministry does.
Like ICMR, the Union Government and its AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) ministry weren’t particulary impressed by Baba Ramdev’s guerrilla marketing tactics either. Especially when no independent medical body had reaffirmed Ramdev’s claims.
“Facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry… 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, Clinical Trials Registry- India registration and results data of the study (ies)…,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ministry has taken cognizance of news in media about Ayurvedic medicines developed for #COVID19 treatment by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. The company asked to provide details of medicines & to stop advertising/publicising such claims till the issue is duly examined: Ministry of AYUSH pic.twitter.com/OBpQlWAspu
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2020
The Union government also demanded clarification from Patanjali Ayurved and asked it to stop advertising the product until the claim is verified.
“And stop advertising/publicizing such claims till the issue is duly examined.” the statement from the Ministry read further.
The ministry also said that Patanjali 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 the directives issued by the central government in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Claims of Baba Ramdev and curious case of ‘Coronil’
Baba Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved claimed that the newly developed medicines have shown a 100 percent efficacy against coronavirus infection within 3-7 days.
“Coming up with a clinically tested, evidence-based medicine was a challenge,” Baba Ramdev said in the presser whilst also mentioned that the clinical trials were jointly conducted by Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar and National Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaipur.
The company also claimed the medicines cleared a clinical trial in several cities including Delhi, Ahmedabad and Meerut, and the RCT (Randomized Clinical Trial) controlled with placebo at the Jaipur-based National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.
Patanjali’s Coronil tablet is part of the Divya Corona Kit that includes another tablet and an oil. According to Patanjali’s MD Acharya Balkrishna, the kit will be sold at Rs 545 at Patanjali’s outlets across the country. However, he also mentioned that the kit will be provided free of cost to those below the poverty line.
The road ahead for Baba Ramdev
Patanjali asserted that ‘Coronil’ and ‘Swasari’ had shown 100 percent favorable results during clinical trials on affected patients, at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.
However, no independent medical body has approved the use of Coronil as of yet and the full findings of the study conducted by Patanjali are yet to be released.
However, rejecting a medicine just because a saffron-clad baba has developed it shows ignorance on part of the people who have been at Baba’s throat right from the word go. As usual, Vir Das had to chime in with his absolute senseless statement.
If Baba Ramdev’s medicine indeed stands the rigorous testing process of the government, then it can be a gargantuan achievement for the Ayurvedic industry as a whole. If not, then the incident should serve as a reminder to Ramdev that coming through the proper channels was the sensible thing to do.
The coronavirus pandemic has afflicted over 4 lakh people across the country whilst killing over 14,000 to date.