COVID-19 treatment: AYUSH ministry seeks details on Patanjali Ayurved's 'Coronil' tablet

Image courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Ministry of AYUSH has taken cognizance of the news in the media about Ayurvedic medicines developed for the treatment of COVID-19 by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, Haridwar (Uttrakhand). The ministry said that facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to it.

"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," said the AYUSH statement. 

Referring to a Gazette Notification No. L.11011/8/2020/AS dated 21st April 2020, the ministry stated that the requirements and the manner the research studies on COVID-19 with Ayush interventions/medicines should be undertaken.  

This ministry directed the Patanjali Ayurved Ltd to "provide at the earliest details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for COVID treatment; site(s)/hospital(s), where the research study was conducted for COVID-19; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration  and results data of the study (ies) and stop advertising/publicizing such claims till the issue is duly examined."

The ministry has also requested 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 statement said. 

Notably, Yoga guru Ramdev's herbal medicine company Patanjali Ayurved today claimed to have discovered cure for COVID-19 but no medical authority could immediately vouch for the claim of 'Coronil and Swasari' medicine curing the highly contagious disease within seven days.

Patanjali claimed that the two Ayurved-based medicines have shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on COVID-19 infected patients except those on a life support system. 

Ramdev told mediapersons that the medicines have been developed by Patanjali Research Center, Haridwar and privately-owned National Institute of Medical Science, Jaipur following all protocols with clinically controlled trial-based evidence.