Yoga guru Ramdev has been ordered by the Delhi High Court to cease all claims that his product, Coronil, is a cure for COVID-19. The court also directed him to remove such claims from all online platforms within three days. It said if the defendants fail to comply with the directions, the social media intermediaries will delete and take down the content from their respective platforms.
“The contesting defendants are directed to forthwith delete and take down from all websites on the internet and social-media platforms (that are within their management and control) all statements…(specifically out in the judgement).Let requisite compliances be made by the contesting defendants within three days,” it ordered. The statements included claims with respect to “Coronil” being an “evidence-based medicine” and “cure” for COVID-19.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, in an interim order on a lawsuit filed by several doctors’ associations, observed that statutory approvals allowed the tablet to be used as a “supporting measure for COVID-19”.
Patanjali claims “…incorrect and mischievous”
The decision comes after a lawsuit filed by several doctors’ associations alleged that Ramdev and his company, Patanjali Ayurveda, had made unsubstantiated claims about Coronil’s efficacy in treating the viral disease. While the product is approved as an immunity booster, the court found that claiming it as a cure was misleading and could endanger public health.
The court emphasized the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential harm caused by false claims. It also expressed concern that such actions could damage the reputation of Ayurveda. “The said tablet is, at best, an immunity booster, which strengthens the immune system in a general sense, and the said tablet cannot be advertised or promoted as a treatment, medicine or cure for COVID-19. To be clear, anecdotal evidence of some persons can never be a substitute for statutory approval, certification or licensing of the said tablet as a treatment, medicine or cure for COVID-19,” the court held.
“All representations, statements and advertisements put out by the contesting defendants contrary to the statutory approvals, certifications and licences that they hold are per-se false, incorrect and mischievous. Prima facie putting out such material amounts to public nuisance and a wrongful act that would affect the public at large,” the court concluded.
What Patanjali’s lawyers claimed
Ramdev’s counsel had argued that the medicinal efficacy of “Coronil” should be appreciated in terms of how Ayurveda works as a system of medicine and requisite licences were granted to it after duly conducting clinical trials, research and studies.
“The contesting defendants are directed to forthwith delete and take down from all websites on the internet and social-media platforms (that are within their management and control) all statements…(specifically out in the judgement).Let requisite compliances be made by the contesting defendants within three days,” it ordered. The statements included claims with respect to “Coronil” being an “evidence-based medicine” and “cure” for COVID-19.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, in an interim order on a lawsuit filed by several doctors’ associations, observed that statutory approvals allowed the tablet to be used as a “supporting measure for COVID-19”.
Patanjali claims “…incorrect and mischievous”
The decision comes after a lawsuit filed by several doctors’ associations alleged that Ramdev and his company, Patanjali Ayurveda, had made unsubstantiated claims about Coronil’s efficacy in treating the viral disease. While the product is approved as an immunity booster, the court found that claiming it as a cure was misleading and could endanger public health.
The court emphasized the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential harm caused by false claims. It also expressed concern that such actions could damage the reputation of Ayurveda. “The said tablet is, at best, an immunity booster, which strengthens the immune system in a general sense, and the said tablet cannot be advertised or promoted as a treatment, medicine or cure for COVID-19. To be clear, anecdotal evidence of some persons can never be a substitute for statutory approval, certification or licensing of the said tablet as a treatment, medicine or cure for COVID-19,” the court held.
“All representations, statements and advertisements put out by the contesting defendants contrary to the statutory approvals, certifications and licences that they hold are per-se false, incorrect and mischievous. Prima facie putting out such material amounts to public nuisance and a wrongful act that would affect the public at large,” the court concluded.
What Patanjali’s lawyers claimed
Ramdev’s counsel had argued that the medicinal efficacy of “Coronil” should be appreciated in terms of how Ayurveda works as a system of medicine and requisite licences were granted to it after duly conducting clinical trials, research and studies.