‘Coronil not a medicine’: IMA opposes Patanjali’s proposal to add it in Covid-19 kit

Section 34 of National Medical Commission (NMC) also prohibits mixopathy and inclusion of the Patanjali supplement will be violative of the Section 34, the IMA said.

Taking strong objection to Patanjali’s proposal of including Coronil tablet in the Covid-19 kit, the Indian Medical Association has written a letter to the Uttarakhand state government. The pan-India association of doctors in the letter said that Baba Ramdev’ Patanjali-developed Coronil does not have the sanction of the World Health Organisation (WHO) nor has the tablet been included in the central Covid guidelines and opposed the proposal to include the tablet in the state Covid-19 kit, news agency ANI reported.

The letter – written by Dr Ajay Khanna, State Secretary, IMA – also said that the Coronil tablet is neither a drug nor a medicine as claimed by Baba Ramdev and Patanjali group and has only been sanctioned as a food supplement by the central government. The strongly worded letter to the Chief Secretary of the Uttarakhand state government further said that mixing of an Ayurveda supplement along with Allopathic drugs and medicine would amount to mixopathy which is not permitted and has been disallowed by many High Courts and the Supreme Court in the country.

The IMA also said that in addition to the successive rulings by the higher judiciary, Section 34 of National Medical Commission (NMC) also prohibits mixopathy and inclusion of the Patanjali supplement will be violative of the Section 34. The IMA letter reiterated that Coronil is not a drug or medicine as claimed by Baba Ramdev on the national television in various advertisements.

Earlier, the IMA and other doctors’ association had taken offence to Baba Ramdev’s statement against allopathic doctors and medicine. Many doctors body including Delhi Medical Association had also filed police complaints against the Yoga Guru for his statement against the doctors. Ramdev had allegedly in a statement said that more patients had died by taking allopathic medicine than of Coronavirus. He had also allegedly termed the allopathic branch of medicine “Diwalia medicine.”