NEW DELHI: Despite a severe drubbing from the Supreme Court for circulating misleading advertisements of his Ayush products, yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved continues to violate the Act that prohibits the advertisement of certain drugs to treat certain diseases and disorders.
In their affidavit with the Supreme Court on July 9, Patanjali Ayurved had assured that all advertisements of 14 Ayurvedic medicines, which the State Licensing Authority, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, suspended, will be removed and also withdrawn.
However, Patanjali Drishti Eye Drop continues to be advertised on social media, especially on X, formerly Twitter, in violation of the commitment made by Patanjali Ayurved twice, first in November 2023 and then on July 9, 2024, Kerala-based RTI activist K V Babu told this paper.
He said that, in this regard, he filed a complaint on July 12 with the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority (SLA). “Based on my complaint, the SLA directed the Drug Inspector of Haridwar on July 15 to initiate action. While some of the earlier advertisements on Twitter were deleted, a few more are still in the public domain in direct violation of the assurance given to SC,” Babu said.
Babu said he had again complained to the SLA on July 18. However, the offending advertisement on Drishti Eye Drop, which claims to be safe to use ayurvedic medicine that is effective for any eye problem, along with Ramdev’s video promoting the medicine, is still on X.The claim made by Patanjali Ayurved’s official handle further says that the medicine is “helping in treating glaucoma or cataract, double vision, colour vision, retinitis pigmentosa and night blindness.”Babu, who is an ophthalmologist, said that not giving proper eye drops for treatable conditions can lead to blindness, and many doctors have advised against using Patanjali’s eye drops on several occasions.