Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : June 25, 2020 11:20 AM IST
Patanjali relaunched Coronil Kit at a press conference recently, calling it the first evidence-based Ayurvedic medicine for COVID-19.
Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved, which launched a Corona kit that it claimed can cure the deadly COVID-19 virus on Tuesday, is in big trouble now. Just a few hours after the launch, the Union Ministry of AYUSH had barred Patanjali from advertising and publicising the medicines until they were examined. The licensing authority of the Uttarakhand government was also asked to provide copies of the licence and product approval details of the medicines, which were developed at Patanjali's lab in Hardwar.
Now, a licensing officer in Uttarakhand has said that the herbal products company didn't mention COVID-19 when it applied for a license for its new medicine kit. Instead the company had sought a license for an "immunity booster and a cough and fever cure" the officer told ANI.
"On June 10 Patanjali submitted a license application for two-three products. After being examined by a panel of experts in the department, we issued the license on June 11. But they didn't mention anything related to coronavirus or its treatment. We only approved license for immunity booster, cough and fever," YS Rawat, Licence Officer at the Uttarakhand Ayurveda Department told the news agency.
Ayush Minister Shripad Naik has also confirmed that Patanjali sent documents related to the medicines only yesterday to the ministry. Speaking to media persons this morning, he said that while it is a good thing that Ramdev has given the country a new medicine, but it needs proper permission from the Ayush Ministry.
"Anyone can make medicines. Anyone who wants to make medicines has to go through the Ayush ministry task force. Everyone has to send details of the research to the Ayush ministry for confirmation. This is the rule and no can advertise their products without it," a news channel quoted the Minister as saying.
Patanjali launched Coronil Swasari Vati at a press conference on Tuesday, calling it the first evidence-based Ayurvedic medicine for COVID-19. Ramdev claimed that 'randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials' have proved its efficacy against COVID-19. He said in clinical trials, 69 per cent patients recovered in 3 days and 100 per cent patients recovered in 7 days after taking the drugs, 'Coronil', and 'Swashir Vati.' According to Patanjalli, the trials were held in several cities including Delhi, Meerut and Ahmedabad.
The 'Coronil kit' as the medication is being called consists of 3 medicines - two in tablet form and one in liquid form. This drug combination, the company claimed, work on the respiratory system of the body. The kit also carries a scientific document bearing evidence of the drug's efficacy.
The AYUSH Ministry asked Patanjali to stop advertising and publicising the drug, as the company had not sought permission from the ministry for the same, which is a compulsory for anyone making Ayurvedic medicines. It had also not submitted any facts of the claim and details of the research to the ministry.
Patanjali was told to provide all details at the earliest including the name and composition of the medicines, site(s)/hospital(s) where the study was conducted for COVID-19, protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and data of the study (ies). Until all these details were examined, the company was asked to stop advertising/publicizing the drug. The ministry had also sought the concerned State Licensing Authority of Uttrakhand government to provide copies of license and product approval details of the said drugs.
