The firm did not provide the information sought from it regarding the products and the explanation offered by it in its defence was not satisfactory, the authority said in its order.
Baba Ramdev (Wikimedia Commons)
The manufacturing licence of 14 Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy products has been suspended, according to an order issued by the Uttarakhand drug licensing authority.
The order was issued earlier this month taking cognisance of complaints about misleading advertisements of these products by the firm in violation of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act and the Drugs and Cosmetic Act.
The firm did not provide the information sought from it regarding the products and the explanation offered by it in its defence was not satisfactory, the authority said in its order.
Divya Pharmacy products whose manufacturing licence has been suspended include Swasari Gold, Swasari Vati, Bronchom, Swasari Pravahi, Swasari Avaleha, Mukta Vati Extra Power, Lipidom, BP Grit, Madhugrit, Madhunashini Vati Extra Power, Livamrit Advance, Livogrit, Eyegrit Gold and Patanjali Drishti Eye Drop, according to the order.
Taking to X, to share the news, Hepatologist, Abby Philip recalled how one of the now suspended product—Drishti Eye Drop—was called out by ophthalmologist Parul Sharma in 2021 for causing damage to her patients’ eyes instead of being beneficial as claimed by the product.
He wrote: “Ad-hominem attacks, personal-level harassments, trolling and abuses made her delete that post. The harassments came from Patanjali company supporters, blind nationalistic Ayurveda lovers, and freaks who thought Hindu religion was attacked because Patanjali Ayurveda (owned by a saffron clad thug and his accomplice) was considered epitome of vedic-traditional Indian “healthcare”.”
In 2021, an ophthalmologist @DrParulSharma1 observed that the use of a particular proprietary Ayurvedic formulation called Drishti Eye Drops made by Patanjali Ayurved that claimed to improve vision, was in fact hurting her patients. She posted about it on Twitter.
Ad-hominem… pic.twitter.com/BJ8vPynVvx
— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) April 30, 2024
Mentioning the BJP government-led Uttarakhand’s cancellation of 14 Patanjali products, Karnataka Health Minister took a dig at opposition leader R Ashoka.
Earlier, R Ashoka responding to a post on X by the minister had questioned him asking why the minister was so agitated as “if his own house was on fire” and even asked why Gudnurao had harbored animosity towards the Patanjali institution.
On Tuesday, 30 April, Gundurao in a post on X said, “Now that their party is in power, the Uttarakhand government has cancelled the licenses of these 14 Patanjali products, will Mr Ashoka now pose the question he once asked me to the Uttarakhand government?”
He continued, that the Supreme Court has cracked down on the Patanjali products by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna for misleading advertisements and deceiving the public.
“When the Supreme Court itself expressed doubts about the credibility of the Patanjali products, opposition leader R Ashoka had certified it as a brand loved by the people. They acted as if testing the quality of Patanjali products was a crime. However, the Uttarakhand government, led by their party, has now cancelled the licenses of Patanjali. Does Mr Ashoka now have the courage to discuss the decision of the Uttarakhand government?” he asked.
2
ಸುಳ್ಳು ಜಾಹೀರಾತು ನೀಡಿ ಜನರಿಗೆ ವಂಚಿಸಿದ್ದ #BabaRamdev ಹಾಗೂ ಆಚಾರ್ಯ ಬಾಲಕೃಷ್ಣ ಒಡೆತನದ #Patanjali ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗೆ ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್ ಛೀಮಾರಿ ಹಾಕಿದೆ.ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯವೇ ಪತಂಜಲಿ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ವಿಶ್ವಾಸರ್ಹತೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅನುಮಾನ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಿದ್ದಾಗ ವಿಪಕ್ಷ ನಾಯಕ @RAshokaBJP ಪತಂಜಲಿ ಜನ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿದ ಬ್ರ್ಯಾಂಡ್ ಎಂದು ಸರ್ಟಿಫಿಕೇಟ್… https://t.co/SU1RBpZhSJ
— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) April 30, 2024
On 16 April, the Supreme Court ordered yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna, and Patanjali Ayurved to issue a public apology in the misleading advertisements case.
On 19 March, the apex court directed Ramdev and Balkrishna to appear before it after taking exception to the company’s failure to respond to the notice issued in the case relating to advertisements of the firm’s products and their medicinal efficacy.
The top court had said it deemed it appropriate to issue a show cause notice to Ramdev as the advertisements issued by Patanjali, which were in the teeth of the undertaking given to the court on 21 November 2023, reflect his endorsement.
Ramdev and Balkrishna had, earlier tendered an “unconditional and unqualified apology” before the top court over advertisements issued by the firm making tall claims about the medicinal efficacy of its products.
However, the Supreme Court on 23 April, questioned Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna for the tiny size of the apology they published in newspapers.
Referring to the size of the advertisements, the bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked Patanjali Ayurved if the public apology they published in newspapers yesterday was as big as their advertisements.
The apex court was also scheduled to hear a plea filed in 2022 by the IMA alleging a smear campaign against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
The bench had posted the matter for further hearing on 30 April.
(With PTI inputs)
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