Patanajali defends its ads, says not making any false advertisements or propaganda
New Delhi: Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved on Wednesday said it was not making any ''false advertisements or propaganda'' regarding its products, and said it would not object if the Supreme Court imposed a fine or ''even gave us a death sentence'' if found making misleading claims.
A day after the apex court cautioned the company against making "false" and "misleading" claims in advertisements about its medicines as cure of several diseases, Patanjali Ayurved said it has "database with more than one crore people, with real world evidence, preclinical and clinical evidence".
Furthermore, the company said it humbly respects the court, and "if we make false advertisements or propaganda, we would not have any objections if the honourable court imposed a fine of crores or even gave us a death sentence." Addressing a press conference in Haridwar, Ramdev said the apex court should have listened to their side. Ramdev said if he was given an opportunity, he is ready to present all facts, clinical evidence and scientific research papers before the court in support of his claims. Ramdev said he would stick to his claims of curing serious diseases through Yoga and Ayurveda.
On Tuesday, a bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra orally observed, while hearing a plea of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), "All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. The court will take any such infraction seriously..."
The top court, on August 23, 2022, had issued notices to the Union Health Ministry and Ministry of Ayush and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, on the plea of the IMA alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.
In its statement, Patanjali said, "We would like to emphasise that we are not spreading false propaganda. Hundreds of therapies of Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Panchakarma, Shatkarma, fasting, and with the integrated treatment, we have made thousands of people free from several diseases like BP, sugar, thyroid, asthma, arthritis, obesity, liver and kidney failure, and cancer." The company accused "some stubborn and so-called frustrated doctors of the medical sector, who oppose Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy", of having a problem.
While acknowledging that diseases can be controlled with synthetic medicines, it said "but cannot be cured", this problem of allopathy is not a problem for Yoga-Ayurveda. "In the medical field, we have seen many modern practitioners commit medical crimes by installing fake pacemakers, stealing kidneys, unnecessary medicines, and conducting tests indiscriminately as medical mafia/drug mafia, we have fought against them," the statement added.
