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Centre to amend Drugs & Magic Remedies Act to end exploitation of people by misleading ads, tele-marketing, & e-tailing of Ayush drugs
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
September 27 , 2016
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The Union government is concerned over the misleading advertisements,
tele-marketing, multi-level marketing, direct selling and e-tailing of
Ayush drugs which are posing new challenges. The advertisements with
tall claims are seen to lure desperate patients.
In this regard,
Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Yesso Naik stated that efforts
to amend the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act were underway. “The Law
department has already approved it. Medicines sold through such
advertisements while misguiding the public ought to be stopped,” the
minister said during the recently concluded BRICS conference in
Bengaluru.
Concurring with the minister was Maharashtra governor
Vidyasagar Rao who expressed concern over the fact that many ayurvedic
and traditional medicines were being sold in the market through
commercial advertisements in media claiming to cure diseases like
diabetes without scientific evidence or clinical trials to support the
claims. He further appealed that the government must take strict action
against such advertisers to protect public interests.
“Now the
medical and scientific experts in the Aysuh sector have the
responsibility to preserve legacy and ensure that its credibility is not
compromised for cheap publicity or short term economic gains. In the
long run such inept efforts are likely to bring disrepute to Indian
traditions and knowledge heritage. The traditional knowledge systems
like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani are deeply rooted in Indian culture,”
said Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan, Professor, Interdisciplinary School of
Health Sciences and director, Center for Complementary and Integrative
Health (CCIH), Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Now the
government regulations and surveillance are required to ensure that
gullible patients are not exploited. What is being sporadically done
under the pretext of herbal drug development is certainly not in line
with the basic principles, ethos and practice of Indian traditions. It
is hoped that the new Consumer Protection Act 2015 Bill is cleared soon
and the law will take strict course to put a stop to blatant cheating
through misleading commercial advertisements claiming cure for many
incurable diseases,” noted Prof. Patwardhan in the Journal of Ayurveda
and Integrative Medicine 2016.
The country requires assured
quality, safe, affordable and effective ASU drugs. Globally, there is
increasing consensus among scientific community that mere
pharmacological interventions with drugs are not sufficient for
management of non communicable diseases (NCDs). The physiological
interventions through lifestyle and behavioural modifications are
gaining much more recognition. Health protection, disease prevention and
simple yet effective medicines are the real strengths of Aysuh systems.
The ASU community has unique leadership opportunity to offer novel
healthcare models through yoga, meditation, panchakarma and principles
of swasthavritta for safer and affordable public health to the Indian
and global community, added Prof. Patwardhan.
Ayurveda has huge
potential for natural product drug discovery of the new phyto-actives as
novel chemical scaffolds. Admittedly, scientifically robust path of
discovery and development of evidence based ASU drugs is not an easy
task, he pointed out in his article on ‘Ayurvedic drugs in case: claims,
evidence, regulations and ethics’ in JAIM.
There is need to opt
for robust documentation of prevailing practices to show tangible
benefits of ayurvedic drugs in clinical management of diseases. This
approach should bring clinical experiences, case records, and textual
information from classical traditional practice as an evidence of
benefits. Such efforts could stall creation of misleading ads as Ayush
drugs will be backed by evidence based systems which will be in place,
said Prof. Patwardhan.
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