Yoga Guru Ramdev Claims to Have Found Ayurvedic Cure for Coronavirus, Scientific Community Skeptical

Yoga guru Ramdev on Tuesday claimed to have found the first Ayurvedic cure for coronavirus through research by Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, and National Institute of Medical Sciences, NIMS University, Jaipur.

Patanjali claimed 'Coronil' and 'Swasari' had shown 100% favourable results during clinical trials on affected patients at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.

Launching the medicines at a press conference in Haridwar, Ramdev claimed "100% recovery rate in seven days".

The corona kit will be made available at Rs 545, said Patanjali Ayurved MD Acharya Balkrishna, adding it will have medicines for 30 days. Patanjali claims the kit can also be taken as prevention for coronavirus.

This is not an immunity booster but a coronavirus cure, Ramdev said.

Manufactured by Haridwar-based Divya Pharmacy and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, the medicine is the result of a research partnership between Patanjali Research Institute and the National Institute of Medical Sciences. The drug was clinically tried on 280 COVID-19 positive persons out of which 69% were cured within three days, said Ramdev.

Ramdev said, “The entire world is waiting for a vaccine to cure coronavirus and we are proud to say that through clinically controlled trial-based, evidence-based method, we have first ayurvedic medicine to cure corona called ‘Coronil’ and ‘Swasari’.”

The other two medicines to be taken along with Coronil are 'Shwasari' which works on strengthening the respiratory system and cures the obvious symptoms of corona including cough, cold and fever and a nasal drop named 'Anu Tel' which helps build immunity, the firm said. Ramdev said the medicines can be ordered online through a mobile app from next Monday.

"A combination of optimum concentration comprises of Divya Swasari Vati, Patanjali Giloy Ghanwati, Patanjali Tulsi Ghanwati and Patanjali Ashwagandha capsules along with Patanjali Divya Anu Taila was administered in Corona positive patients to tackle the outbreak," a press release said.

This ayurvedic formulation constitutes of active phytoconstituents ranging from

Withanone of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) to Tinocordiside of Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) and ‘Scutellarin’ of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum). Furthermore, it added "Swasari Vati, composed of other potential herbs named as Kakrashringi (Pistacia integerrima), Rundati (Cressa cretica), Akarkara (Anacyclus pyrethrum) along with hundreds of efficacious phytochemicals, phytometabolites and essential minerals, is also used to exhibit its miraculous benefits against this lethal disease."

The overall coordinator of Patanjali's clinical trial said it was conducted in mild to moderate cases. "The trial on moderate to serious cases are still to take place, the clinical trial is still underway," he added.

At the launch of the medicine, NIMS director Balbir Singh Tomar said there were challenges to conduct the trials as some raised questions and doubts but later the Ethics Committee of the institute passed it.

The claims made by Tomar and Ramdev said in three days, 69% of the patients showed recovery and in seven days, 100% tested negative. They claimed that due to divine intervention, the death rate was 0%.

While launching the medicines, Ramdev said: “The kit used shows 100 per cent recovery rate within 3-7 days. Two trials were conducted by the team in Delhi and Ahmedabad. In one of them, there were 280 patients, and it showed 100 per cent recovery. This is not just for prevention, but for cure. This was followed by an all-important clinical control trial.”

Tomar said they took permission from CTRI (clinical trial registry- India) and were allowed, as claimed by the speakers present, after which they conducted a randomised 1 to 1 placebo control double line trial. Their next step is to take the study forward to the severe patients on ventilators.

The yoga guru’s claims, however, did not go down well with the scientific community that urged caution in glorifying a drug without appraisal from other experts in the field.

Dr SP Kalantri, Professor of Medicine, MGIMS Sevagram in Maharashtra said, “I would urge caution from prematurely drawing conclusions from this study. We need to assess the study methodology and its design and examine the data critically before we conclude that the drug is safe and effective for Covid-19 patients.”

He suggested “the study investigators share the full details of their study and let the scientific community appraise it critically before the (sensational) results are shared with the media”.