Ramdev Baba's Patanjali has once again come under fire for alleged false claims on their product labels, this time by a state health authority.
On 9 November 2022, Uttarakhand's Ayurveda and Unani Licensing Authority reportedly sent a letter, undersigned by licence officer Dr G.C.S. Jangpangni to Patanjali's Divya Pharmacy asking the company to stop manufacturing 5 of its products – Madhugrit, Eyegrit, Thyrogrit, BPgrit and Lipidom, on grounds of 'misleading advertisements'.
On 11 November, Patanjali issued a statement saying they haven't received any such letter.
"The letter which was conspiratorially written and circulated in the media on 09.11.2022 in a sponsored manner by the Ayurveda and Unani Services Uttarakhand has not been made available to Patanjali Sansthan in any form so far," Patanjali's statement was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Speaking to the Quint, however, Dr Jangpangni confirmed that said letter was, in fact, sent to the company.
What Is the Issue?
Speaking to the Quint, Ayurveda and Unani Licencing Officer, Dr Girish Jangpangni said that the letter was sent as a response to a complaint.
The letter, which we were able to access, mentions Kerala based ophthalmologist Dr K V Babu who had also reportedly complained about Patanjali's medicines in July.
It says that the complaint filed by Dr Babu speaks of 'deceptive' and 'objectionable' promotion and advertisement of the five products which violates the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954 Section 3D, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 Rules 1945 106(1).
The five products listed in the letter are:
Divya Madhugrit Tablet
Divya Eyegrit Gold
Divya Thyrogrit Tablet
Divya BPgrit Tab
Divya Lipidom Tablet
“They had an advertisement in which they say their eye drops were useful in glaucoma, cataract and many other eye issues. If any of these issues remained untreated, they can lead to blindness. Such advertisements are a threat to human life,” Dr Babu was quoted as saying by the Hindu.
The letter adds that the health authority has been asked to undertake due enquiry into the matter.
Dr Jangpangni says that they have asked the company to submit additional documents to check for potential discrepancies in the claims made by the company on the labels of these products.
Interestingly, the letter also asks Divya Pharmacy to halt manufacturing these 5 products for the time being, and to submit new formulation sheets for fresh approval within 1 week.
It is unclear why the company was asked to stop manufacturing the products when the complaint filed and cited in the letter only alleges violation of law with their labeling and advertisment.
It is also unclear why the letter asks the company to produce new formulation sheets for the products for review, when the complaint cited in the letter doesn't bring up, or question the quality or the formulation of the products.
Patanjali's Track Record
This is not the first time Patanjali has been pulled up for alleged misleading advertisements and false claims.
In the thick of the COVID pandemic, Patanjali came under fire from the Indian Medical Association for describing their product, Coronil, as the ‘first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19'.
The company has also run in to trouble with the US FDA in the past which claimed to find conflicting medicinal claims on the company's sharbat bottles.
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