New Delhi: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that an Interdisciplinary Technical Review Committee (ITRC) set up under the Union Ayush Ministry had said that Coronil tablets may be considered as a supporting measure in COVID-19 management and not as a cure.
The Ayush Ministry, in an affidavit, said that ITRC in its meeting held in December 2020, had examined the clinical reports submitted by Patanjali Research Foundation Trust and informed state licensing authority (SLA) that Coronil tablets may be considered as supporting measure in COVID-19. “In this regard, the Ministry of Ayush vide letter dated January 14, 2021, informed SLA Uttarakhand to consider the application of the Patanjali Research Foundation Trust for using Coronil tablet as supporting measure in the management of COVID-19 without claiming cure”, said the affidavit.
The government took this step after months Patanjali had launched Coronil, claiming its consumption would lead to recovery from the disease in 3-4 days. The affidavit was filed by the ministry after the court imposed a temporary ban on Patanjali Ayurved from advertising or branding certain products.
The ministry said it had issued a notice to Patanjali immediately after Coronil was introduced in the market in June 2020, even before the ITRC advisory.
The affidavit said two messages were sent to Patanjali — one through a letter and the other by mail — by the ministry asking it to refrain from marketing the medicine as a COVID-19 cure.
The ministry said it encourages the utilisation of each “healthcare system for (the) betterment of the overall health of its citizens in a holistic manner”. The ministry also criticized the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for “denigrating a system of medicine”, saying the association lacks a complete understanding of other systems of medicines and this should be discouraged in public interest and mutual respect.
The affidavit also provided details on the government's measures for regulating Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha drugs.
The affidavit said a second letter was sent to Patanjali in July, 2020, reminding it that its advertisements for medicines should adhere to the 1954 law.
It further added that the National Pharmacovigilance Centre (NPC), had reported Patanjali thrice in 2022 for misleading advertisements for 13 of its drugs. The affidavit said SLA forwarded to the ministry a response, which it received from Divya Pharmacy in May 2023 and it was only on 12 March this year that SLA informed Ayush about issuing a warning to Divya Pharmacy.
A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, taking note of this affidavit, pulled up the Centre for not acting under the 1954 law. The apex court, after noting that Centre clearly says that Patanjali’s product Coronil isn’t backed by evidence, wondered why the government did not make this public.
The apex court said the SLA is “not discharging its duty”, and directed the department to become a party in the case and appear before it on 10 April, the next date of hearing.
The Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954, prohibits publishing advertisements of drugs for specific diseases. According to the affidavit, the 1954 law also puts the onus on the SLA to take action against misleading advertisements by such manufacturers.
The first conviction under the law can lead to six months of jail, a fine, or both, and the second conviction, on the other hand, attracts a jail term of a year.
The ministry’s affidavit came in response to the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) petition raising concerns over Patanjali’s advertisements of certain drugs. The IMA claimed that they are in the teeth of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954. IMA was represented by senior advocate P S Patwalia and advocate Prabhas Bajaj.
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