£25,000 fine by Ofcom over cancer cure claims for Yoga show

The media watchdog Ofcom has the fined the hindi news channel over misleading advice that yoga can cure cancer and hernia

Media watchdog Ofcom has legally shunned the claims made on Yoga for You – broadcast on the Zee Network’s Lamhe channel – by presenter Dr Pankaj Naram and imposed a heavy fine of £25,000 , for what it believes to be misleading for treatment of cancer or hernia patients.

In its (Ofcom) opinion, the viewers might feel medically tempted to delay or forgo treatment for cancer sufferers; if you tell them that patients with terminal illeness have survived the cancer and have lived normal 15 years later. This particular fact has been claimed by Dr Narman on the show.

The authority has also taken into legal note basis the fact that there was no evidence established to substantiate Dr Narman’s claims, and hence ‘it’ represents an increased risk of harming the viewers undergoing critical illness.  However, Asia TV has apologized for the “human error” that had led to the broadcast, saying it was aware that the content was unacceptable.