Patanjali’s misleading ads case: Herbal wellness not cure for illness, say docs

Hyderabad: After the Supreme Court reprimanded Patanjali co-founder Baba Ramdev and its MD Acharya Balakrishna for misleading advertisements on Patanjali’s ayurvedic products, people have become cautious about health-related companies and ‘medical experts’ who make tall claims.

Nowadays, it is a common thing to see claims being made about health and medical products that promise to be a ‘one cure for all’ for even serious and life-long ailments such as diabetes, cancer, AIDS, obesity, baldness, thyroid issues, epilepsy or seizures, migraine etc.

Certified doctors are using this opportunity to remind the public that apart from treatment with proper medicines and addressing deficiencies such as issues with environment, lifestyle, metabolism, food habits and genetics, certain diseases can only be controlled, even if there may not be a complete cure.

The Patanjali case

The Supreme Court pulled up Patanjali Ayurveda Limited co-founder Baba Ramdev and managing director Acharya Balakrishna for misleading advertisements with claims of medical cures about their ayurvedic products. Balakrishna soon tendered an unconditional apology for his company’s claims.

Balakrishna also apologised for the misleading claims about the miraculous curing capacities of formulations of Patanjali products that had also questioned the effectiveness of modern medicine.

The Supreme Court said that such claims and ads amount to violations under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act of 1954. It may be recalled that during the pandemic time, Ramdev had also made jibes against modern medicine and defamed allopathic doctors while claiming his company has a cure for Covid-19.

Even earlier in November, the apex court had cautioned Patanjali for making announcements of medical cures for various diseases and asked them to refrain from it. Since there had been no response from the company, until early this week, the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice and asked Ramdev and the MD to personally appear before the Apex Court.

Many more liars to look out for

Doctors, practicing modern medicine, point out that Patanjali is not the only entity making false claims. There are other less glorified quacks too, who resort to such tall claims of curing any disease – from diabetes to cancer! They call for stringent laws to deter quacks from fooling the public.

“Despite several hundreds of years of anatomical studies, we have still not understood the mechanisms and biochemical processes going on in the ultra, supercomputer called the human body. It is wrong to say that all diseases have a total cure or are reversible. There are diseases, whose progression can be halted with timely treatment or they can be controlled from getting worse with proper medical or surgical interventions,” said Dr S Vijay Mohan, a senior consultant physician from Care Hospitals.

Modus operandi of quacks

Explaining how people in desperate need of medical care are the ones who fall for fake cures, he said: “For instance, even if we say that certain types of cancer have been cured for the time being, we cannot guarantee that it will never recur in future. But to claim that they can be totally cured is misleading the masses. Very often quacks and dubious practitioners claim that they can cure cancer or diabetes through some herbal concoctions and capsules. Gullible patients and their families fall into the trap and waste precious time trying these unscientifically made products, thereby delaying the right treatment and further worsening their health conditions. Also, there are a few ailments like Hepatitis A and asthma, which are usually self-limiting and have natural remissions. There is no scientific evidence stating that a particular fish or some medicine can completely cure asthma forever.”

‘Wellness from nature’s products not a cure for illness’

According to Dr Charan Teja, a neuropsychiatrist at KIMS Hospital, most neuropsychiatric diseases such as epilepsy and migraine are treatable but not curable.

“For example, by taking the right anti-epileptic medicine one can be either seizure-free or can have reduced frequency and intensity with the episodes. The same applies to migraine as well. We usually stop the medicines once the patient is free of the episode for two years or more. Again, with mental health disorders, there are specific evidence-based guidelines and protocols that we follow and stop medication according to the type of the disorder and the severity of it. I don’t think herbal capsules have a role in curing these diseases.”

“However, some herbs like Ashwagandha and St Johns’ Wort etc can help with general mental well-being. Turmeric can have anti-inflammatory effects but that doesn’t mean it can cure a disease. Chamomile can help one sleep better but it doesn’t cure insomnia. There’s a difference in wellness versus illness and not all agents that promote wellness can cure an illness,” the neuropsychiatrist said.

Quack treatment lacks clinical trials, scientific approach

“In modern medicine, no drug will be allowed to be used on humans unless and until it is proved to be safe and effective in several animal studies first and in different phases of clinical trials that include multi-centred, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomised study. Most other faiths of medicines and especially those advocated by quacks, lack this evidence-based, clinical trial-based scientific approach to medicines,” said Dr Vijay Mohan, explaining how it is important for patients to do background research to find the credibility of any treatment or concoction that promises to cure ailments easily.