Patanjali Ayurved continues to violate SC directions on misleading adverts

NEW DELHI: Despite a severe drubbing from the Supreme Court for circulating misleading advertisements of his Ayush products, yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved continues to violate the Act that prohibits the advertisement of certain drugs to treat certain diseases and disorders.

In their affidavit with the Supreme Court on July 9, Patanjali Ayurved had assured that all advertisements of 14 Ayurvedic medicines, which the State Licensing Authority, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, suspended, will be removed and also withdrawn.

However, Patanjali Drishti Eye Drop continues to be advertised on social media, especially on X, formerly Twitter, in violation of the commitment made by Patanjali Ayurved twice, first in November 2023 and then on July 9, 2024, Kerala-based RTI activist K V Babu told this paper.

He said that, in this regard, he filed a complaint on July 12 with the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA). “Based on my complaint, the SLA directed the Drug Inspector of Haridwar on July 15 to initiate action. While some of the earlier advertisements on Twitter were deleted, a few more are still in the public domain in direct violation of the assurance given to SC,” Babu said.

Babu said he had again complained to the SLA on July 18. However, the offending advertisement on Drishti Eye Drop, which claims to be safe to use ayurvedic medicine that is effective for any eye problem, along with Ramdev’s video promoting the medicine, is still on X.

The claim made by Patanjali Ayurved’s official handle further says that the medicine is “helping in treating glaucoma or cataract, double vision, colour vision, retinitis pigmentosa and night blindness.”

Babu, who is an ophthalmologist, said that not giving proper eye drops for treatable conditions can lead to blindness, and many doctors have advised against using Patanjali’s eye drops on several occasions.

“Patanjali is given a long rope by both the SC and earlier by the SLA. Their earlier track records have shown that they have continued to violate the Drug and Magic Remedies Act of 1954, even after a commitment made to SLA in May 2022 and again to the SC in November 2023. This should be addressed seriously by the SLA,” Babu said.

On July 9, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd informed the apex court that it had stopped the sale of the 14 products whose manufacturing licenses were suspended by the SLA in April. They had also told the apex court that they have instructed 5,606 franchise stores to withdraw these products, and have also instructed media platforms to also do so.

Patanjali was directed to file an affidavit within two weeks stating whether the request made to social media intermediaries for removing advertisements has been acceded to and whether advertisements of these 14 products have been withdrawn.

The bench will be hearing the matter on Tuesday.

The DMR (OA) 1954 prohibits the advertisement of certain drugs to treat certain diseases and disorders. It states that “no person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any diseases, disorder or condition.”