COVID-19 Ayurvedic Medicine Launched by Patanjali to Cure Coronavirus- All You Need to Know as Per the Current Developments

The very famous Indian Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s company Patanjali launched the Coronil kit on Tuesday, which he claims is a cure for coronavirus. Baba Ramdev’s herbal medicine company Patanjali Ayurved, announced in a press conference in Haridwar about ‘Coronil and Swasari‘ medicine to treat coronavirus patients. 

The medicine kit will be available through the OrderMe app and in Patanjali stores soon. Patanjali claims this is the first ayurvedic medicine to cure coronavirus disease even as the scientific community the world over struggles to develop an effective cure for the highly contagious disease which has infected lakhs of people.

Baba Ramdev admitted that coming up with a clinically tested, evidence-based medicine was a challenge as he launched Patanjali’s Coronil tablet, which is part of the Divya Corona Kit that includes another tablet and oil.

Patanjali claimed ‘Coronil’ and ‘Swasari’ medicines had shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on affected patients, at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.

Currently, no independent experts have commented on Patanjali’s claims. A few hours after the launch, the Union Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unagi, Siddha and Homeopathy) asked Patanjali to provide detailed information about Coronil and studies it conducted. The ministry also said that until the details are examined by it, Patanjali should refrain from advertising and publicizing its claims.

Here are a few details you need to know about Coronil:

What all the medicine comprises of?

During the launch, Ramdev mentioned Ayurvedic elements are being used in the tablet. “There are more than 100 compounds used in the Coronil,” he added. He claimed Coronil has been made from a combination of naturally occurring immunity-boosting substances such as Mulethi (liquorice), Giloy (moonseed), Tulsi (basil), and Ashwagandha (Indian ginseng).

Cost of the entire kit

Patanjali has said that an entire kit priced Rs 545 is being made for consumers; the kit consists of Coronil as well as other immunity-boosting Ayurvedic medicines. The medicine comes as part of a kit which consists of tablets named Coronil and Swasari Vati, and oil called Anu Oil. The kit will have medicines for 30 days. However, Baba Ramdev told that it will be given for free to those living below the poverty line.

Consumption

As per the written instructions on the pack, for doses, Patanjali prescribes: “2-2 tablets should be consumed with hot water half an hour after meals. The above-mentioned drug intake and quantity is suitable for people between 15 to 80 years of age. Half the amount of the above-mentioned medicines can be used for children between the age of 6 to 14 years.” 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 explained.

Though Patanjali claims that its coronavirus medicine kit can also be taken as prevention for coronavirus but Ramdev clarifies that this is not an immunity booster but a coronavirus cure.

Does it really work?

Though Patanjali has claimed that it has conducted clinical trials to prove the effectiveness of Coronil but the full findings of the study are yet to be released. However, no independent medical body has approved the use of Coronil as of yet.

Research details and related statistics  

Patanjali claims those administered the medicine were fully cured and none of them died. Ramdev even claimed that 69 per cent of them recovered within 3 days. He explained that we’ve prepared the first Ayurvedic-clinically controlled, research evidence and trial-based medicine for Covid-19. We conducted a clinical case study and clinical-controlled trials and found that 69 patients recovered in 3 days and 100 per cent patients recovered in 7 days.

Balkrishna, MD of Patanjali Ayurved stated that they appointed a team of scientists after the Covid-19 outbreak. He added that Patanjali conducted a clinical case study on hundreds of positive patients. Patanjali has claimed that the clinical trials which, were controlled in nature, were jointly conducted by Patanjali Research Institute which is based out of Haridwar and the National Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaipur.

While referring to the clinical trials, Ramdev said, “Under this trial, 280 patients were included and 100 per cent of those recovered.” He added they were able to control Coronavirus and its complications. He revealed that in the next few days, data of the trail will be released as evidence to bolster claims.

Does the government approve coronil medicine?

While Patanjali has made claims about the efficacy of Coronil, the ICMR and the Ayush Ministry have distanced themselves from commenting anything over the medicine. While Ayush Ministry officials claimed ICMR will speak on the medicine, the ICMR has said Ayurvedic medicines come under the jurisdiction of the Ayush Ministry and hence it should comment on it.

Recently, the Ayush Ministry has said that the Uttarakhand government has given clearance and licensing for the production of the medicine. As per Patanjali, Coronil has received a license to be used as a medicine.

Later, the Ayush ministry said that it has taken cognizance of the news of Ayurvedic medicines developed for the treatment of Covid-19 by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.  “Facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry,” it said.

The ministry has asked Patanjali to provide all details of the name and composition of the medicines it has claimed to be as a cure for coronavirus.

The ministry has also sought information about the research study that Patanjali conducted on the Coronil medicine and has asked the company to refrain from publicizing any claims about the medicine’s effectiveness until it has been fully examined.

The Uttarakhand state licensing authority has also been asked to provide copies of the license and product approval details for Coronil.

Recently, Ayush Minister, Shripad Naik shared that all the documents surrounding Coronil’s development and properties will be received by the Ayush Ministry.

Naik congratulated Ramdev on his claims and said that the Ayush Ministry will be able to take a final call only after analyzing the details and the research pattern corresponding to Coronil. To clear the doubt regarding claims, the Ayush Minister responded that standard procedure will be followed to confirm the details provided to them.

When Baba Ramdev was asked if it is right to call Coronil a ‘cure’ for Covid-19?

When asked about the Ayush ministry’s charge that it had no information about any such medicine, Baba Ramdev critically explained, “We have taken all permissions right from the production of the drug to its clinical trials. We have sent all related information to the Ayush Ministry today, they will receive it soon. We have presented all details even to the media. We have not violated any laws.”

Sidestepping questions on the drug being approved by government agencies such as ICMR, Baba Ramdev said clinical controlled study of these medicines was done in several cities including Delhi, Ahmedabad and Meerut and the RCT (Randomized Clinical Trial) controlled with placebo was conducted at Jaipur-based National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.

It was done after getting approval from the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) and all other required formalities,” he further added. “We have followed all the parameters set up by modern science for such clinical trials.”

The company also released an 11-page reply is sent to the Ayush Ministry that detailed composition of medicines; Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) clearance and CTRI registration; and protocol sample size and result data of the study.

Doctors’ view on this

Medical experts, however, don’t seem to get convinced by Patanjali’s claims. Dr. Ravi Shekhar Jha, Head of the department and senior consultant, Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, explained that physiologically it is quite impossible that there is any medicine that can finish the viral load from the body in 5-7 days. “These claims can be very harmful because people, instead of taking actual medical help, may start rushing to these kinds of claims which have no proven clinical trial,” he told PTI.

Over to you

While many nations and scientists continue to chase possible vaccines for COVID-19, there is no scientific evidence of any alternative cure for the fatal coronavirus. 

The Coronil medicine still waits to seek approval from medical bodies, health experts and Ayush ministry.