The Union AYUSH Ministry has advised drug licensing authorities in three States to take necessary action on complaints against an Ayurveda pharma major that it promoted products for heart diseases and liver disorders through illegal advertisements.
This was revealed by documents recently accessed by Kannur-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu under the Right to Information Act. The Ministry sought withdrawal of advertisements of three products of the company which has its manufacturing units in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar as they violated provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
The documents said that the drug policy section of the Ministry had directed the authorities in Uttarakhand to take “necessary action” and submit an “action taken report”.
Dr. Babu had in February complained to V.G. Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, against one of the advertisements which said the product protects one from “heart problems and blood pressure” by “reducing cholesterol in a week”. This was cited as a violation of Section 3 of the Act that prohibited advertisement of certain drugs for treatment of certain diseases and disorders. Subject to the provisions of this Act, no person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug.
The complaint was forwarded to the Union AYUSH Ministry’s drug policy section, which said it was already looking into similar complaints from elsewhere that had been brought to its notice. The Ministry said that its National Pharmacovigilance Centre had noticed other advertisements by the same pharma major and that State Licensing Authorities in Rajasthan and Karnataka had been issued similar directives. Two other advertisements placed by the company had claimed that “evidence-based medicines” would help patients get “instant benefit in problems related to fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, and the digestive system.”
An email sent earlier to the pharma major asking if it was aware of the complaints did not evoke any response.
