By : Shrishti Mehra
According to reports, the Ayush ministry issued an advice warning about items that make unsubstantiated claims or display deceptive information, such as those with a green label.
After the Supreme Court ruled against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. in a case involving misleading ads, the Ministry of Ayush allegedly issued a warning to all Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani, and homoeopathic medication manufacturers.
All makers of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani, and Homoeopathic medications are said to have received a warning from the Ministry of Ayush following the Supreme Court’s decision against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. in a case involving deceptive advertisements.
News 18 obtained the ministry’s explanation, which stated that the warning concerned goods that display false information or make “unsubstantiated” claims, like “green logo” products that purport to be “100% vegetarian” or drugs that falsely claim to be “approved or certified by the ministry.”
News 18 cited an alert that stated, “Any misleading claim or advertisement in any form or on any platform will attract consequent legal actions by the competent authorities.” The advice included information on all national laws and regulations pertaining to deceptive advertising.
According to reports, the ministry directed state drug licensing officials to evaluate any medications claiming to be “certified or approved by the Ministry of Ayush” on their labels or in marketing. It also asked officials to ensure compliance.
‘The Ayush ministry has no part in giving production licenses’
According to the advice, licensing by the state drug licensing body “should not be construed as an approval by the Ministry of Ayush.”
“The Ministry of Ayush has become aware that some Ayush drug manufacturers are mentioning ‘certified or approved by the Ministry of Ayush’ on the label of their drug or product or in advertisements in print or electronic media,” the notice reportedly stated.
According to News 18, the ministry stressed that it has no part in giving manufacturing licenses or certifications for any Ayush medication or product.
It even issued a warning, saying that any such statement in future labels or advertisements will result in “separate legal action by the Ministry of Ayush against the alleged manufacturer.”
The guidance went on to say that a state authority’s license is only authorization to produce or sell a certain drug or product if the conditions outlined in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 are met.
The advice was also forwarded to the National Pharmacovigilance Coordination Centre, which analyzes and designs drug safety profiles as well as issues alerts when new adverse effects are reported for any drug.
In a notification to this Ministry of Ayush, the Center was requested to “ensure reporting of such claims of approval or certification by the Ministry of Ayush to the concerned State Licensing Authority,” according to News 18.
The alert was issued in response to advertising released by the company making extravagant claims about the therapeutic effectiveness of its goods, which led to Yoga master Ramdev and his assistant Balkrishna of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. submitting an “unconditional and unqualified apology” before the Supreme Court.