An ophthalmologist has approached the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Union Ministry of AYUSH against the claim by Patanjali Ayurved that the company has developed cure for COVID-19 through ‘Coronil’ and ‘Swasari’ medicines.
In a statement, the Patanjali had claimed that after the drugs were administered, symptomatic patients had become asymptomatic in three to 15 days. It also claimed that “clinical studies” were done in places such as New Delhi, Meerut, and Ahmedabad.
K.V. Babu, the ophthalmologist, said in a letter to the Director-General, ICMR, that details of the study could not be found in the public domain. Also, whatever were available gave the impression that the studies did not meet the “scientific standards” stipulated in the ICMR guidelines published in 2017.
“Surprisingly, the results of the clinical trials were published on Twitter and announced through a press conference in New Delhi on June 23,” the letter said. The first case for the trial, however, was enrolled only on May 29, according to the Clinical Trial Registry-India. The estimated duration of the trial was two months, the letter added.
In his mail to the AYUSH Ministry, Dr. Babu pointed out that the advertising of Ayush drugs was in violation of Section 7 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act 1954, and Sections 33(I) and 33(J) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, as clearly emphasised in a government communication dated June 2.
