Doctors furious over Patanjali claim for curing Diabetes, IMA Maharashtra to lodge complaint

Mumbai: Terming the recent campaign of Patanjali against the allopathic medicines as a breach of medical ethics, the Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has decided to lodge a complaint in this regard before the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

In the concerned advertisement titled 'Misconceptions spread by allopathy', Patanjali Wellness run by Baba Ramdev claimed that yoga, ayurveda and naturopathy were able to cure chronic diseases such as hypertension, blood sugar, thyroid, asthma, and incurable diseases like autoimmune disorders and heart blockages.

The advertisement urged people to save themselves and the country from the "misconceptions spread by pharma and medical industry". It further mentioned, "The life of people taking medicines for years to control diseases like B.P., Sugar, Thyroid, Asthma, and Cholesterol etc. has become hell due to the side effects of these medicines and prolonged diseases. With scientific research on the knowledge obtained from great sages like Charak, Sushrut, Dhanvantari, and Patanjali, we have succeeded in rooting out diseases and making crores of people completely free from all diseases."

Among the many incurable and chronic diseases, Patanjali also claimed to cure diabetes and the advertisement mentioned, "...for the first time in the world, we have succeeded in completely curing type-1 diabetes to make patients completely non-diabetic."

Also Read: SC slams Ramdev over plea by IMA, says he shouldn't criticize other systems of medicine

Shocked over such claims, the Dr V Mohan, a Padma Shri awardee and Chairman of Dr Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre took to Twitter and urged people not to get misled by such claims and also advised everyone who are suffering from diabetes to continue Insulin.

The Patanjali Advertisement was called out by the Chairman of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Max healthcare, Dr Ambrish Mithal as well. In a recent Tweet, Dr. Mithal mentioned, "Most statements in this ad are blatantly false. #misinformation But some are downright dangerous." He also warned that giving up Insulin might be fatal.

As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, the Patanjali advertisement has been slammed by IMA-Maharashtra as well. While commenting on this, the General Secretary of the Maharashtra chapter of IMA, Dr. Santosh Kadam told the daily, "It breaches medical ethics. In neither field of medicine can you advertise to seek patients. We strongly oppose this."

In this regard, the President of IMA-Maharashtra Dr Ravindra Kute has clarified that chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes cannot be cured and the patient needs to "modify her/his lifestyle" to cope with the ailments. "The advertisement is misleading and putting patients' lives at risk," he said.

Apart from them, leading city doctors including Dr CS Pramesh, the medical director of Tata Memorial Hospital and a renowned surgical gastroenterologist Dr Sanjay Nagral has also raised their voice against the advertisement and requested the concerned authorities for taking action for such misleading ads.

Speaking about this, Dr Nagral added, "It is unethical. He is actually bringing a bad name to ayurveda. We need serious work on all complimentary alternative systems of medicines from a scientific angle."

The secretary of Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI, Maharashtra chapter), Dr Rajeev Kovil informed HT that the members of RSSDI are considering to counter such advertisement by spreading awareness among people instead of taking legal action.

He mentioned, "We have decided to do it through various social media platforms. Influencers like Baba Ramdev should not mislead people. We have had patients who stopped insulin and medicines, which led to a spike in their sugar levels. You are risking lives and such advertisements are disruptive."

Medical Dialogues had previously reported that a series of five advertisements made by the Patanjali Ayurveda claiming to treat blood pressure, diabetes, goitre, high lipid levels, came under the scrutiny of the State Licensing Authority (SLA), Ayurveda, and Unani Services, Uttarakhand, as well as the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).

Consequently, on September 7, the State Licensing Authority had asked Divya Pharmacy, the marketing arm of Patanjali Ayurveda, to remove the misleading advertisements from the media and was directed to submit an explanation within one week.

Similarly, the CCPA had also observed on September 22 that the issue affects public health and the advertisements are in violation of Sections 3 (d) and 106 (1) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, and Schedule J of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. The complaint had also been submitted to the Union Ministry of AYUSH for further action. The advertisements were made for BPgrit, Madhugrit, Thyrogrit, Lipidom, and Eyegrit tablets.

Earlier, while considering a plea by Indian Medical Association (IMA), which sought to control the derogatory statements and "smear campaign" by the Yoga Guru against the vaccination drive and modern medicines, the Supreme Court bench recently slammed Baba Ramdev for his derogatory statements against modern medicine system and its doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bench comprising of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar had previously observed, "What happened to Baba Ramdev? He can popularise his system, but why should he criticise other systems.We all respect him, he popularized yoga but he shouldn't criticize other systems. What is the guarantee that his system will work? He cannot refuse doctor system. He must exercise restraint in abusing other systems."

Also Read: Patanjali asked to remove misleading advertisements on Ayurvedic products