Centre asks Uttarakhand to probe misleading ads of Patanjali Ayurved

In November last year, The Hindu had reported that the Uttarakhand authorities had asked Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy to stop production of five drugs as well as remove their ads from the media

After cracking down on cases of alleged misleading or improper advertisements, the Centre has asked the Uttarakhand government to examine at least 53 such cases against Haridwar-based Patanjali Ayurved. Sarbananda Sonowal, AYUSH Minister, stated this in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question on whether the government has taken cognisance of banning five drugs — namely Divya Madhugrit, Divya Eyegrit Gold, Divya Thyrogrit, Divya BPgrit and Divya Lipidom. All of these herbal medicines are manufactured by Patanjali which, the company claims, are ‘useful’ in treatment of diabetes, to control cholestrol, to improve vision, or to control blood pressure.

For instance, Patanjali sells a pack of 60 Divya Madhugrit tablets for ₹300 and claims that it is useful in diabetes by strengthening body’s immunity, reducing fatigue and lethargy and other problems associated with diabetes. Similarly the company claims that Divya Thyrogrit tablet is useful in sub-acute thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism. Similarly Divya BPgrit, which is priced at ₹180 for 60 tablets, claims to work both in case of high and low blood pressure and is also useful in heart diseases.

“In 2022, the Ministry of Ayush has forwaded these advertisements of Divya Madhugrit, Divya Lipidom, Divya Eyegrit Gold and Divya BPgrit to Ayurveda and Unani Services in Uttarakhand to examine the matter for withdrawal of advertisements,” Mr. Sonowal stated.

In November last year, The Hindu had reported that the Uttarakhand authorities had asked Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy to stop production of five drugs as well as remove their ads from the media. However, within two days, the order was retracted.

The AYUSH Ministry has set up pharmacovigilance centres for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy drugs in different parts of the country under a Central scheme. These centres are mandated to monitor and report misleading ads to respective State regulatory authorities. “The All India Institute of Ayurveda [AIIA] is the National Pharmacovigilance Co-ordination Centre [NpvCC] for implementing the programme,” Mr. Sonowal said.

Of these there were 15 instances of misleading ads against Madhugrit, 10 instances against Eyegrit Gold, 3 against Thyrogrit, 18 against BPgrit and 7 against Lipidom have been reported in past eight months.

Apart from Uttarakhand, other States have taken action against dubious claims, false advertising or marketing of AYUSH products. Tamil Nadu has suspended licences of three companies for a month. Drug inspectors in Karnataka have issued 1,409 notices under Section 9 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act to erring advertisers for misleading claims. In Maharashtra, 73 objectionable ads of AYUSH products have been detected since 2020. Those convicted can be imprisoned for up to six months to one year.