Dehradun: Citing 'misleading advertisements', the Ayurveda and Unani Licensing Authority, Uttarakhand, has asked Divya Pharmacy, which manufactures Patanjali's products, to halt the production of five of its products. The medicines in question were used in the treatment of blood pressure (Divya BPgrit), diabetes (Divya Madhugrit), goitre (Divya Thyrogrit), glaucoma (Divya Eyegrit) and high cholesterol (Lipidom).
In response to the allegation, Divya Pharmacy has issued a letter stating that all the products and medicines under their brand are made according to the prescribed standards, fulfilling all the statutory processes.
K V Babu, a doctor from Kerala, had complained regarding Patanjali medicines for repeated violations of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 in July. Babu once again sent the complaint to the State Licensing Authority (SLA) via email on October 11. Following the complaint, Joint Director and Drug Controller Dr. GCN Jangpangi has asked Patanjali to immediately remove "misleading and objectionable advertisements" from media.
The SLA has further asked Patanjali to seek re-approval for all the said medicines after changing the formulation and label and that production should begin only after the changes are approved. The authority has also sought a reply from the company on this issue in a week. A warning has been given to run only approved ads in future.
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Reacting to it, Baba Ramdev's Divya Pharmacy has alleged the involvement of anti-Ayurveda drug mafia in this issue, claiming that all the medicines are made according to international standards and with the highest level of research and quality in the Ayurveda tradition. It says the medicines are prepared with the help of more than 500 scientists, based on conclusions drawn on the basis of preclinical and clinical trials, in the best interest of the patients.
Patanjali officials further said that they have not received any letter regarding the purported ban on five of their medicines, while the matter of 'misleading advertisement' has already been addressed by Patanjali on September 30, 2022 to the License Officer, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Patanjali has cited this as a conspiracy to defame the organisation and warns of legal action against the persons involved in this.
