Thiruvananthapuram: Days after Baba Ramdev's Patanjali launched a drug that the Yoga guru claimed is a "100 per cent cure for the novel coronavirus", Kerala High Court is set to entertain a plea which seeks to study the presence of any harmful substance in the Ayurvedic medicines available in the state.
According to reports, the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Special Court has decided to entertain the plea against Ayurvedic pharma companies in the state.
The private petition alleges that the ayurvedic medicines being manufactured and marketed by certain companies in Kerala contain lethal chemical components in dangerous levels which can harm human life.
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The respondents in the case are Ayurvedic drug inspectors Dr Jaya V Dev, Dr Kavitha Girish, Dr Sreedhar M H and former Ayurveda Deputy Drugs Inspector, Thiruvananthapuram Smart P John.
The medicines marketed by some of the prominent Ayurveda companies to treat diabetes and liver-related ailments reportedly contain high levels of heavy metal. These medicines are found to constitute up to 85 per cent mercury.
Read: Patanjali launches Ayurvedic COVID-19 medicine, claims 100 pc recovery within 3-7 days
The petitioner alleges that drug inspectors- who are responsible to check the safety and approve the sale of such drugs in the market - have taken bribes from the private companies to allow the sales.
Earlier, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Rajasthan High Court against Yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved MD Acharya Balkrishna, alleging that they have misled and put at risk the lives of lakhs of people by claiming to have developed medicine to treat COVID-19.
