In Ramdev Vs Doctors, Yoga Guru Goes To Supreme Court

 In Ramdev Vs Doctors, Yoga Guru Goes To Supreme Court

As the second wave of Covid ripped through the country last month, killing thousands, Ramdev had stirred a controversy with his remarks on the efficacy of allopathic drugs against the virus.

All IndiaReported by A Vaidyanathan, Edited by Anindita SanyalUpdated: June 23, 2021 3:54 pm IST

In Ramdev Vs Doctors, Yoga Guru Goes To Supreme Court

Ramdev had withdrawn his comments following a letter from Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

New Delhi: Yoga teacher Ramdev -- who infuriated doctors across the country with his disparaging remarks on allopathic medicine – has approached the Supreme Court seeking a freeze on the police cases against him over the issue. He has also asked that the First Information Reports filed across the country be clubbed together and transferred to Delhi.

Last month, as the second wave of Covid ripped through the country killing thousands, Ramdev stirred a controversy with his remarks on the efficacy of allopathic drugs against the virus.

In a widely shared video, he was heard saying, "Lakhs of people have died because of allopathic medicines, far more than those who died because they did not get treatment or oxygen."

He even purportedly called allopathy a "stupid and bankrupt" science, offending the whole medical fraternity.

Later, challenging calls for his arrest, said, "even their baap (father) cannot arrest Swami Ramdev". His firm, Patanjali, said it would give a "befitting reply" to any defamation notice.

Various units of the Indian Medical Association filed complaints against him with the police, based on which multiple cases were lodged. The association, which had sought an apology within 15 days, later sued him for defamation and demanded a compensation of ₹ 1,000 crore.

Ramdev "Withdraws" Allopathy Remarks After Huge Row, Minister's Letter

Ramdev was seen in a recent video, purportedly saying "lakhs of people died because of allopathic medicines" during the coronavirus pandemic.

All IndiaReported by Sunil Prabhu, Edited by Divyanshu Dutta RoyUpdated: May 23, 2021 10:40 pm IST

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Ramdev's Patanjali group said his video had been edited and the statement "taken out of context". (File)

New Delhi: Yoga guru Ramdev, the face of one of India's biggest consumer goods and alternative medicine empires, on Sunday said he was "withdrawing" remarks in which he ostensibly said more people died of modern medical treatments during the COVID-19 crisis than the coronavirus itself following a massive controversy.

"Received your letter Dr Harsh Vardhan. In that context and to end the whole controversy over the conflict of different treatments with regrets, I am withdrawing my statement," he tweeted, hours after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asked him to rescind the remarks.

However, just eight minutes later, he also retweeted a post by a Twitter user that said: "Yoga and Ayurveda give us compete health. Modern medical science has limitations. It only gives symptomatic treatment whereas Yoga and Ayurveda gives systemic treatment."

In a two-page letter in Hindi, Dr Vardhan had written to him, "The people of the country are very hurt with your remark on allopathic medicines. I have already told about this feeling over phone. Doctors and health workers are like gods for the people of the country for whom they are fighting against the coronavirus risking their lives."

"You have not only insulted Corona warriors, but have hurt the feelings of the people of the country. Your clarification yesterday is not enough to make up for it... I hope you will think hard on it and withdraw your statements completely," he added.

Ramdev had drawn outrage and a legal notice from the the Indian Medical Association (IMA), demanding a written apology for the statement that it said damaged the reputation of practitioners of allopathy and modern medicine when they are striving to save lives during the pandemic.

In a video that was widely shared on social media, Ramdev was heard saying at a recent event, "Lakhs of people have died because of allopathic medicines, far more than those who died because they did not get treatment or oxygen." He also purportedly called allopathy a "stupid and bankrupt" science.

NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Facing a backlash over the comments, Ramdev's Patanjali group initially said the video had been edited and the statement "taken out of context". The 55-year-old saffron-robed producer of Ayurvedic products had "no ill-will against modern science and good practitioners of modern medicine", it said.

"It is necessary to mention that the event was a private event and Swami jee (Ramdev) was reading out a forwarded WhatsApp message received by him and various other members who were participating in the event... what is being attributed against him is false and nugatory," it said.

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Patanjali, based in Uttarakhand's Haridwar, added Ramdev "believes that allopathy is a progressive science; and a combination of allopathy, Ayurveda and yoga will be beneficial to everyone during such difficult times."

Besides the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which represents 3.5 lakh doctors, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) too served a legal notice to Ramdev, condemning the "baseless and unscrupulous claims made for cheap publicity".

The IMA, earlier in a media statement, had said the Union Health Ministry should take action and prosecute Ramdev under the Epidemic Diseases Act as he had misled people by making "unlearned" statements and defamed scientific medicine.

It also claimed that Ramdev had called doctors "murderers" in front of the Health Minister - a doctor himself - during the "release of his wonder drugs".

With close ties to the ruling BJP government, Ramdev has courted controversy during the pandemic earlier as well. Flanked by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his colleague Nitin Gadkari, Ramdev had launched what he called the "first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19" in February.

The World Health Organisation had to issue a clarification saying it had "not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment COVID-19" after Ramdev said his medicine called Coronil had been cleared by the agency.

Ramdev's latest row erupted on a day when the IMA said as many as 420 doctors had died battling the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, making a grim total of over 1,200 since the beginning of the crisis last year.

Baba Ramdev blames allopathy for COVID deaths, draws IMA’s ire

Indian Medical Association urges authorities to take action against ‘baba’ for ‘spreading hatred and misinformation regarding science’

The Federal

5:14 PM, 22 May, 2021Updated 5:39 PM, 22 May, 20211COMMENTS 

Patanjali, Drug Controller of India, COVID-19, coronavirus, Baba Ramdev, coronavirus cure, Ayurvedic medicine

Ramdev is accused of 'belittling the sacrifice of more than 1,200 doctors who have laid down their lives in the line of duty' | File photo: PTI

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged authorities to take action against Ram Kishan Yadav, or ‘Baba Ramdev’, for “spreading hatred and misinformation regarding science” after the ‘baba’ called allopathy a “stupid and bankrupt science” that had caused the deaths of “lakhs” of COVID-19 patients in the country.

Addressing a group of followers recently, Ramdev claimed that more people in India have died of allopathic intervention than have died due to lack of hospital beds and oxygen.

“Allopathy is such a stupid and bankrupt science… first chloroquine failed, then Remdesivir failed, then their antibiotics failed, then their steroids failed, now a ban has been imposed on plasma therapy, now they are prescribing Fabiflu, which too has failed,” Ramdev said.

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Ramdev then says “some people could raise a controversy over what I am going to say”, before blaming science-based modern medicine for the deaths of lakhs of people. “Lakhon logon kee maut kaa kaaran allopathy hai,” he says.

After the controversial video started making the rounds of social media, the IMA’s Dwarka Branch in Delhi issued a statement condemning Ramdev’s “derogatory words against allopathic science and medical doctors”.

Also read: Healer, heal thyself! Ramdev should volunteer for trial of his corona kit

“He [Ramdev] has belittled the sacrifice of more than 1,200 doctors who have laid down their lives in line of duty serving mankind during pandemic,” the statement read.

“Medical doctors are fighting as frontline soldiers and are leaving no stone unturned to help humankind to fight this COVID menace head-on, whereas this self-proclaimed businessman baba is spreading hatred and misinformation regarding science and also damaging crucial doctor-patient relationships.”

The statement added that if the authorities fail to take any action against Ramdev, “we may contemplate stopping work, as according to him we are causing deaths rather than saving lives”.

Last June Ramdev and his company Patanjali had launched Coronil – a herbal concoction – as part of a ‘Covid Kit’ and touted it as a cure for COVID-19.

Also read: Patanjali launches ‘Corona kit’, claims 100% COVID-19 cure in 7 days

A day after the launch, reports emerged that Patanjali’s claims of curing COVID were based on interim results from a study featuring just 45 patients. Maharashtra quickly banned the sale of Coronil, and in August the Madras High Court fined Patanjali Rs 10 lakh for “chasing profits” by claiming to have a cure for the disease.

Coronil was relaunched in February 2021 as a “supportive treatment” for COVID-19. Ramdev then claimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) had visited Patanjali and “given Coronil the licence that deems it eligible for sale in more than 150 countries” – a claim shot down by the WHO.

Patanjali’s CEO then clarified that Patanjali had simply received a good manufacturing practice certification from the Centre in accordance with WHO standards.

COVID-19 second wave: India loses 420 doctors so far; Delhi, Bihar, UP report most deaths: IMA

Releasing fresh figures on COVID-related fatalities among doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said the highest deaths have been reported from Delhi with 100 casualties, followed by Bihar (96), Uttar Pradesh (41), and Gujarat (31)

twitter-logoBusinessToday.In | May 22, 2021 | Updated 12:36 IST

COVID-19 second wave: India loses 420 doctors so far; Delhi, Bihar, UP report most deaths: IMA

According to the IMA COVID-19 registry, a total of 747 doctors had died due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic

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As many as 420 doctors in India have lost their lives due to the COVID-19 second wave that started around March-April, 2021, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said on Saturday, May 22.

Releasing fresh figures on COVID-related fatalities among doctors, the pan-India voluntary organisation of modern medicine doctors stated the highest deaths have been reported from Delhi with 100 casualties, followed by Bihar (96), Uttar Pradesh (41), Gujarat (31), Andhra Pradesh (26), and Telangana (20).

According to the IMA COVID-19 registry, a total of 747 doctors had died due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. The maximum fatalities were reported from Tamil Nadu (91) followed by Maharashtra (81), West Bengal (71), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68), and Uttar Pradesh (65).

Also Read: COVID-19 second wave: India loses 269 doctors so far; Bihar, UP, Delhi report most casualties

IMA President Dr. JA Jayalal had said earlier that the association maintains a registry-based only on the input of its various branches across the country.

"We do not want to release the name list as it is a sensitive matter," he said.

Asked as to how many of these doctors had been fully vaccinated, Dr. Jayalal said, "We are not confident about the vaccination status of all, but by the data we got, not (being) fully vaccinated is the main cause (of the deaths)."

Also Read: Covid-19 crisis: 80 doctors at Delhi's Saroj Hospital test positive for coronavirus

He further stated that, on average, at least 20 doctors are dying per day due to COVID-19. These include doctors working in government facilities, private hospitals, and medical colleges.

"The second wave of the pandemic is turning out to be extremely fatal for all and especially those who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19," Jayalal had said.

Patanjali Ayurved fined Rs 10 lakh by Madras HC for chasing profits by claiming COVID-19 'cure'

The court directed the company to pay Rs 5 lakh each to Adyar Cancer Institute and Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital

Published: 06th August 2020 07:27 PM  |   Last Updated: 06th August 2020 08:33 PM  |  A+A A-

Coronil TabletThe Ayurvedic concoction was launched as a cure for Covid-19 by Baba Ramdev’s company

By Harish MuraliExpress News Service

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Patanjali Ayurved for 'chasing profits' by claiming to have a cure for COVID-19. The court refused to vacate the interim stay restraining Patanjali from using the term Coronil to market its immunity booster tablets against COVID-19.

The injunction was granted by the Madras High Court on a trademark infringement suit filed by Chennai-based Arudra Engineers Private Limited, which was using the registered trademarks Coronil-213SPL and Coronil-92B for its industrial cleaning chemicals for nearly three decades.

In a 104-page order, Justice CV Karthikeyan observed, "Patanjali and Divya Yog Mandir Trust repeatedly projected that they are a Rs 10,000 crore company. However, they are still chasing

further profits by exploiting the fear and panic among the general public by projecting a cure for COVID-19 when in reality their Coronil tablet is not a cure but rather an immunity booster for cough, cold and fever.”

"A simple check with the trademark registry would have revealed that Coronil is a registered trademark. If they had done so and still with audacity used the name, then they deserve no consideration at all,” the judge said in his order.

ALSO READ | COVID-19 immunity booster Coronil demand at 10 lakh packs a day: Baba Ramdev

The justice also observed, "They must realise that there are organisations which are helping the people in this critical period without seeking recognition and it would only be appropriate that they are made to pay costs to them."

The court directed the company to pay Rs 5 lakh each to Adyar Cancer Institute and Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital.

“In both the organisations, treatments are afforded free of cost without any claim to either trademark, trade name, patent or design, but only with service as a moto,” the judge said and directed that the cost must be paid on or before August 21.