In a notable development, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has instructed the Ministry of Ayush to take “necessary measures” in response to a complaint regarding Patanjali Ayurved, led by Baba Ramdev. The complaint alleges repeated violations of an Act related to deceptive advertising of Ayush products.
Following the directive from the PMO on January 24, the Ministry of Ayush has subsequently called upon the Uttarakhand Ayush department to “take appropriate action” regarding a matter that has remained pending since February 2022.
Both the Ayush Ministry and the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) had been lethargic in addressing the matter of Patanjali Ayurved’s deceptive advertisements for drugs related to diabetes, obesity, thyroid, and heart diseases, despite numerous RTIs filed on the issue.
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In a letter to the Director of Ayurvedic and Unani Services in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, the Ayush Ministry emphasized that the continuous violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 by Divya Pharmacy fall under the jurisdiction of the State Licensing Authority, Uttarakhand.
“Therefore, it is requested to examine the matter and take the necessary action as deemed appropriate and inform your response to the applicant under intimation to this ministry,” the February 2 letter said.
The Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA) received instructions following a complaint by RTI activist Dr. K V Babu to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on January 15, highlighting Patanjali Ayurved’s persistent violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
“I am thankful to the PMO for the prompt intervention and hope this will end the illegal advertisements by Patanjali Ayurved,” Babu said.
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Babu mentioned that his grievances, submitted in February 2022, are still awaiting resolution from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Union Ayush Ministry, and SLA of Uttarakhand.
“The Ayush Ministry and SLA have been dragging the issue based on an unrelated Rule 170 of the Cosmetic Act and a Madras High Court judgement of 2020. The SLA is not taking any action even after repeated communications and the numerous contravention of the Magic Remedies Act by Patanjali Ayurveda,” said Babu, adding that the Ayush ministry has written at least four times to the Uttarakhand SLA for action against Patanjali, but nothing was done.
Babu had brought up the matter with Union Ayush Minister Sarbannanda Sonowal on multiple occasions as well.
Last year, the matter was also raised by two parliamentarians, Dr. V Sivadasan and Karti P Chidambaram. The Ayush minister had assured them and even directed the Uttarakhand government to take action against Patanjali Ayurved for its misleading advertisements.
In a written answer on March 28 last year, Sonowal said that in 2022, the Ayush ministry had forwarded advertisements of Divya Madhugrit (15 violations), Divya Lipidom (7 violations), Divya Eyegrit Gold (10 violations), and Divya BPgrit (18 violations) to Ayurveda and Unani Services, Uttarakhand to examine the matter for withdrawal of advertisements.
Babu also communicated with the Ayush ministry, notifying them that Patanjali had disseminated deceptive advertisements in two widely circulated regional newspapers.
The DMR (OA) 1954 prohibits the advertisement of certain drugs to treat certain diseases and disorders. It states that “no person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any diseases, disorder or condition.”
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