The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has come down heavily on Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for endorsing 'Coronil' as the "first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19".
Yoga guru Ramdev led Patanjali on Friday re-launched the Coronil as treatment of COVID-19 and released the scientific research paper on 'the first evidence-based medicine for COVID 19 by Patanjali' in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Ramdev announced that the Ministry of AYUSH has accepted the 'Coronil tablet' and has given and has given the approval to use this medicine to treat Covid 19.
During the launch 'Coronil', Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that there should be no doubt about the authenticity of Ayurveda and Baba Ramdev. The dream of Baba Ramdev is the dream of the Government of India.
Moreover, a poster during the launch claimed that the said medicine holds a certificate of a pharmaceutical product (CoPP) and was recognised by the World Health Organisation's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
However, WHO South-East Asia in a Tweet clarified that it had not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment of Covid-19.
Taking note of the development, the top doctor's body questioned how the Health Minister could promote a "falsely fabricated, unscientific product".
"As per the code of the Medical Council of India, which binds the code of conduct of every modern medical doctor, no doctor can promote any drug. However, it is surprising that the health minister, who himself is a modern medicine doctor, was found promoting the drug," the medical body said.
News agency ANI quoted the IMA as saying "It was claimed by Baba Ramdev along with Health Minister that the said Coronil Ayurvedic medicine has got WHO certification. This has been clearly denied by WHO in an official tweet. The said false and fabricated projection of an unscientific medicine by the Health Minister to the entire country and being rejected by WHO is a slap and insult to the people of the country."
This is not the first time that Patanjali-made Coronil has sparked controversy. Earlier, Patanjali Ayurved launched 'Coronil' tablets on 23 June 2020, claiming that it can cure Covid 19 within seven days. However, as soon as the drug was launched, the AYUSH Ministry said that they have no information about it. After this, the ministry also stopped Patanjali from advertising the drug.