New Delhi: Hours after yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday claimed that Ayurvedic medicines developed by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd can cure COVID-19 patients in seven days, the Ministry of Ayush sent out a notice to Ramdev and asked to immediately stop advertising and publicising such claims till the issue is duly examined.
The Ministry of Ayush has asked Patanjali to provide at the earliest details like the composition of the medicines, the results of its research, the hospitals where the research was conducted, whether the company had a clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee and whether it had registered for the clinical trials.
“Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has been asked to provide at the earliest details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for COVID treatment; site and hospital, where the research study was conducted for COVID-19; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results from data of the studies and stop advertising and publicizing such claims till the issue is duly examined,” the Ayush Ministry said.
The Ministry has also asked the concerned State Licensing Authority of Uttrakhand Government to provide copies of license and product approval details of the Ayurvedic medicines being claimed for the treatment of COVID-19.
The Ministry of AYUSH has taken cognizance over Patanjali Ayurved’s claim about Ayurvedic medicines developed for the treatment of COVID-19. “Facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry,” the Ministry said in its notice.
The concerned Ayurvedic drug manufacturing company has been informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder and the directives issued by the Central Government in the wake of COVID outbreak.
The Ministry had also issued a Gazette Notification No. L.11011/8/2020/AS dated April 21, 2020, stating the requirements and the manner the research studies on COVID-19 with Ayush interventions/medicines should be undertaken.
Earlier in the day, Ramdev has claimed that Ayurvedic medicine named ‘Coronil and Swasari can cure COVID-19 patient in seven days with 100 per cent guarantee.' The claim made by Ramdev came at a time when scientists across the globe are doing trials and examinations to find COVID-19 medicine.
As per Ministry of AYUSH, while undertaking research, it is mandatory for organizations to comply with the following conditions:
i) The proposals should be approved by their scientific advisory bodies and Institutional Ethics Committees
ii) If it is a clinical trial, the project should be registered with CTRL
iii) The sample size should be based on statistical justification
iv) Clinical research should be conducted as per AYUSH guidelines for Clinical Research or ICMR guidelines
v) Compliance with relevant regulations for Bio-medical and Health Research
vi) Compliance to Good Clinical Practice Guidelines
vii) Compliance to National Ethical Guidelines for Bio-medical and Health Research on Human Participation published by ICMR
viii) Compliance with any other relevant regulations in force
ix) AYUSH registered practitioner/expert should be part of the study team at each site
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