Baba Ramdev's Patanjali launched a 'corona kit' on Tuesday that it touted as a cure for COVID-19. Despite the fanfare at its launch, the corona kit from Patanjali has been getting negative publicity since then.
On Thursday, The Indian Express reported that clinical trials of the corona kit by Patanjali at National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research (NIMS) in Jaipur involved administration of "allopathic medicines" to coronavirus patients. The report casts doubts on the efficacy of the corona kit from Patanjali, which Ramdev touted as a wholly ayurvedic product.
The Indian Express reported, "the trials were conducted only on asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. Severely symptomatic patients and those with acute respiratory distress syndrome were excluded for enrolment."
Dr Ganpat Devpura, principal investigator, NIMS, Jaipur, told The Indian Express the trial results of Patanjali's corona kit were not peer reviewed.
The Indian Express reported, "When questioned if allopathic medicines were administered to mildly symptomatic patients during the trial when they developed symptoms, Devpura said, 'Yes, if patients had developed symptoms like fever, symptomatic treatment was given.'"
Devpura told The Indian Express the clinical trial for Patanjali comprised 100 patients, with equal numbers on placebo and ayurvedic therapy. "We did the RT PCR test on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7. On Day 3, 69 per cent active patients tested negative; in the placebo group, only 50 per cent were tested negative. On Day 7, in the active group, all the remaining patients tested negative; in the placebo group, 65 per cent were negative, and remaining 35 per cent continued to test positive for COVID-19,” Devpura revealed to The Indian Express.
The patients administered Patanjali's ayurvedic treatment received, "Swasari Ras (500 mg), pure Ashwagandha extract (500 mg), pure Giloy extract (500 mg), pure Tulsi extract (500 mg) and Anu taila nasal drops," The Indian Express reported.
The report by The Indian Express comes even as the Rajasthan government denied that Patanjali had obtained permission to conduct trials for the ayurvedic corona kit.
Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma told PTI "no human clinical test of a drug can be done without the permission of the state government and action will be taken against those who mislead the common people by doing 'clinical trials' without permission". The Rajasthan government had announced on Wednesday that Patanjali's corona kit cannot be sold in the state without permission of the AYUSH ministry.
Moreover, The Indian Express quoted a health expert who expressed doubt on the efficacy of the trial at NIMS. “NIMS had only asymptomatic patients. It can’t be said that this particular medicine treated them successfully within a few days,” said Dr Narottam Sharma, Chief Medical Health Officer, Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, told The Indian Express.
Hours after launch of the corona kit, the Union AYUSH ministry asked Patanjali to stop advertising the medicines until its claims were proven.
On Wednesday, a Uttarakhand government official claimed Patanjali had only applied for a licence for an immunity booster and not a medicine for coronavirus.
