‘Apologise or Pay Rs 1,000 Cr’: IMA’s Defamation Notice to Ramdev

The IMA also demanded that Ramdev make a video clip contradicting all his allegations and withdraw Coronil ads.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent Baba Ramdev a defamation notice.

(Photo: The Quint)

Amid uproar over several controversial comments made by Baba Ramdev over allopathy and allopathic doctors with respect to COVID-19, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent him a defamation notice to either issue an apology within 15 days or pay Rs 1,000 crore.

The notice, served by IMA (Uttarakhand) Secretary Ajay Khanna on behalf of 2,000 doctors who are part of the body, calls Ramdev’s remarks a criminal act.

Further, the notice demands that Ramdev make a video clip contradicting all his allegations and circulate it on all social media platforms, The Indian Express reported.

The IMA also demanded that Ramdev withdraw advertisements of ‘Coronil kit’ that endorse it as a medicine for COVID-19, else a criminal case will be filed by the doctors’ body.

Ramdev vs IMA

On Tuesday, the controversy surrounding Ramdev’s comments on allopathic treatments amid a raging COVID-19 pandemic further flared up after he wrote an open letter to the IMA asking them 25 questions on allopathy, asking for cures for several diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and blockages in the heart, along with cures for humanising rude and violent people” and “sorting out differences between practitioners of Ayurveda and allopathy”.

Ramdev shot the letter to IMA after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan wrote to him expressing disappointment over his comment that allopathy was “a stupid science” and medicines such as Remdesivir, Fabiflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) had failed to treat COVID-19 patients.

As the IMA demanded action against Ramdev, he retracted his statement on allopathy following Vardhan’s letter.

Earlier in 2020, Ramdev’s company Patanjali Ayurveda also touted Coronil as a cure for COVID-19, a statement that was later retracted by the company, following a controversy.

In several of his yoga sessions, Ramdev can be heard questioning allopathic treatments for COVID-19 that are being used globally. He has also claimed that thousands of doctors have died of COVID-19 despite undergoing the treatments.

Recently, Ramdev was slammed for mocking the oxygen shortage in the country by saying that “people were looking for cylinders outside while God has given you two cylinders right here inside you,” while referring to one’s lungs.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)