NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Ayush has taken contradictory stands inside and outside Parliament on action taken against companies publishing misleading advertisements. While Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Parliament has said that they have issued directives to the states and union territories to take action against firms publishing misleading advertisements of Ayush products, claiming cures for diseases like diabetes, in an RTI reply, they cited a court case for not taking action.
The minister denied in Parliament that no action had been taken against some companies publishing misleading advertisements of AYUSH products contravening the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
It is not the first time the minister has reiterated his position. In Parliament on March 22, he also said that the protocol or guidelines are in force to restrict Ayush products of medicinal use with dubious claims and for selling certain medicines under supervision.
But to a Right to Information (RTI) question to Kannur-based ophthalmologist Dr KV Babu against dubious and misleading advertisements by Baba Ramdev’s Haridwar-based Patanjali Ayurved, the Ayush ministry agreed with the Uttarakhand licensing authority, which had said the matter is sub-judice and pending before the Mumbai High Court.
“The reply in Parliament is inconsistent with the RTI response from the Ministry of Ayush,” Dr Babu, who has also written to the minister over this contradictory stand, told this newspaper. “It is the responsibility of the Minister of Ayush to direct the Drug Policy Section to initiate action against those companies who contravened Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act,” he said.