Patanjali Ayurved is a private Indian multinational, based in Haridwar Uttarakhand that makes mineral and herbal products. It was founded by renowned yoga guru Baba Ramdev along with its CEO Acharya Balkrishna. According to media reports, Patanjali registered a joint turnover of Rs 25,000 crores in the fiscal ending March 2020. Both Baba Ramdev and his company Patanjali Ayurved are not new to controversies. They once again stirred up a hornet’s nest when two Union ministers of India, Dr Harshvardhan (Health & Family Welfare) and Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport & MSME) accompanied team-Patanjali for an event to promote a medicine called Coronil that has been introduced in market to fight coronavirus related illnesses.
According to the FMCG giant, “Coronil has received the certificate of pharmaceutical product (COPP) from the Ayush section of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization as per the WHO certification scheme.” Baba Ramdev released a scientific research paper at the event titled “Randomized placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial on the efficacy of ayurvedic treatment regime on COVID-19 positive patients”, which was published in February 2021 issue of the journal Phytomedicine.
The implicit message delivered at the event was that Coronil is the “first evidence-based medicine” and it is time for the world to lap it up. With the COPP in its kitty, Coronil would now be exported to 158 countries. So why has Coronil been in the media storm once again? Is there something wrong if a product manufactured by a private company is promoted in the presence of ministers from the government? What does the entire episode reveal about our ethical standards when it comes to business and politics?
THE INITIAL DRAMA
In July 2020, Patanjali launched a massive advertisement campaign claiming Coronil is a cure for the Covid 19 virus. This irked the Ayush Ministry (The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy), which asked the company to stop advertising Coronil as a cure for corona until proper verification of its claim is made.
According to a report by Zee News, Dr. Y.S. Rawat, Joint Director, State Medicinal Licensing Authority of Uttarakhand – “Divya Pharmacy (owned by Patanjali) did not apply for license of any kind of medicine related to Corona nor were they given any license in this regard. The license was issued only for immunity booster kits and fever medicine. But now, that it has come to the attention of the Ayush department, a notice will be issued to Divya Pharmacy. If their reply is not satisfactory then their current licenses will be cancelled.”
According to media reports, “85 lakh units of Coronil were sold in four months and as per the official website of Patanjali; it made sales of Rs 240 crore last year. The Coronil kit comprises three products – two packs of tablets, Coronil and Swasari Vati, and a bottle of oil called Anu Taila. Apart from selling the whole kit for Rs 545, the company offers the components separately as well.” So what changed from July 2020 to March, this year? The same Ayush Ministry that blew hot and cold over Patanjali’s claim of Coronil as a cure for the coronavirus seems to have been convinced about its efficacy. If you were a keen observer of the state of affairs in our country, this U-turn by the Ministry would not be surprising.
WHO, IMA NOT CONVINCED
Immediately after the February event in which Patanjali talked of securing the COPP as per the WHO certification scheme, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a tweet without naming Patanjali specifically and clarified: “WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment COVID-19.” Patanjali CEO Acharya Balkrishna retorted via a tweet: “We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India. It is clear that WHO do not approve or disapprove any drugs. WHO works for building a better, healthier future for people all over the world.”
Another important stakeholder in the fight against the coronavirus is the Indian Medical Association (IMA). They too seem to be ‘not-impressed’ by the claims of Coronil being a cure for Covid. CEO Balkrishna issued a challenge by tweeting: “Open invitation to Indian Medical Association officials for a discussion on the science behind Coronil, with the research team at PRI. Let us discuss in front of the nation or IMA apologize for the baseless non-scientific allegations. We at Patanjali are pro-science but anti-conspiracy!”
Dr Jayesh Lele, Secretary-General of IMA said: “We accept the challenge and have already demanded the very transparency, clarity and whatever certification they have received from World Health Organization (WHO) and DGCI, process and protocols followed for bringing out this type of medicine. The medicine claims to boost immunity, cure the COVID-19 infection and prevent further complications post-infection. They have claimed on Friday in a press release that Coronil is going to be the magic drug. We would like to have entire documents on this particular medicine, which they have produced. At the same time, we have already filed RTI to the respective authorities to submit these document copies to us. We will study it. We take this challenge and would really be there to discuss this issue in front of everybody.”
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also joined the Twitter spat over Coronil saying: “The IMA has questioned the said ‘clinical trials’ of Coronil & WHO refuted the false claims made by Patanjali Ayurveda for giving any certificate regarding its effectiveness for Covid19 treatment. Launching such a drug hurriedly and being endorsed by two senior Central Union Ministers is highly deplorable. Selling of Coronil without proper certification from competent health organizations like WHO, IMA and others will not be allowed in Maharashtra.”
NATIONALIST FERVOUR AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
In an article (Where Pseudoscience Is Spreading) for ‘The Atlantic’ (18 August 2020), Vidya Krishnan writes – “In the years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, a system based around modern science, with traditional branches of medicine serving limited and supplementary roles, has markedly shifted, leaving little room for scientific temper.
“Ministers in Modi’s government have repeatedly proclaimed the superiority of Indian systems over modern medicine; the department overseeing traditional treatments has been upgraded to a full ministry; and godmen running multibillion-dollar empires sell unproven Ayurvedic products.
“The authorities have tolerated, if not encouraged, unscientific thinking, and made a virtue of anti-intellectualism. And they have more actively linked traditional medicine with religiosity, aiming to reclaim yoga’s Hindu provenance and using traditional systems as a vehicle for promotion of a Hindu nationalist ideology.”
The fact that a private company would actively seek ministers of the government to attend an event meant to promote its products commercially speaks a lot about the ethical standards it professes to practice. The entire Coronil episode is symptomatic of the state of our polity and falling ethical standards in business as well as governance.