Days after ordering a ban on the production of five drugs by Patanjali-owned Divya Pharmacy, the Uttarakhand Ayurveda and Unani Services authority on Saturday retracted the order saying that the ban was announced mistakenly.
Patanjali hailed the government for revoking the ban and said that some “ignorant, insensitive, and under-qualified officers” in the department have been tarnishing the entire tradition of Ayurveda.
In a letter dated November 12 to Divya Pharmacy, Dr G.C.S Jangpangi, licence officer, Uttarakhand Ayurvedic and Unani Services, said that the department is amending its previous order of placing a ban on the production of five drugs, namely Divya Madhugrit, Divya Eyegrit Gold, Divya Thyrogrit, Divya BPgrit, and Divya Lipidom. The production has been allowed to continue.
When the ban was in place, Dr. Jangpangi had told The Hindu that Patanjali had been asked to immediately stop production of the drugs. “We have constituted a team that will review the formulation sheet of these drugs once the authorities at Divya Pharmacy submit the same to us. They have also been asked to submit a new formulation sheet and revise the label claim within a week,” Dr. Jangpangi had said then.
Hailing the revoking of the ban, Patanjali representatives said that the Uttarakhand government had accepted its error.
“Through 30 years of continuous effort and research, Patanjali Institutions, for the first time in the world, has generated the acceptance of Ayurvedic medicines in the form of research and evidence-based medicine. Our honorable Prime Minister has been putting untiring efforts to make our country proud of its ancient heritage, by wiping away all signs of slavery,” a statement from Patanjali said. It said some unqualified officials had put a question mark on the tradition and authentic research of Ayurveda, in order to utterly tarnish it. A reprehensible act to defame Patanjali was done on purpose, the statement said.
