Expanding the scope of its hearing in the Patanjali Ayurved case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday took a stern view of misleading advertisements by Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) firms and asked three Union ministries to inform it about the steps they have taken to curb the practice which takes 'public for a ride' and adversely affects their health.
The Supreme Court Tuesday granted one-week time to yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved to issue a public apology in the misleading advertisements case, but said it was not letting them 'off the hook' now.
Ramdev and Balkrishna have tendered an "unconditional and unqualified apology" before the apex court over advertisements issued by the firm making tall claims about the medicinal efficacy of its products.
The bench also issued notice to Ramdev to show cause why contempt proceedings be not initiated against him.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday tore into Patanjali Ayurved's defence for putting out misleading advertisements, rejecting the apology from yoga guru Ramdev and the firm's managing director Acharya Balkrishna as 'lip service' and warned them against perjury.
During the brief hearing, the bench asked Patanjali Ayurved not to publish misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine.
The company further said, "We humbly respect the Supreme Court of India and if we make false advertisements or propaganda, we would not have any objections if honourable court imposes a fine of crores or even give us a death sentence."
The bench also cautioned Patanjali Ayurved and its officers from making any statements adverse to any system of medicine in the media, both print and electronic, in any form as they said in their undertaking before the court earlier.
In an advisory, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) also appealed to people to take COVID-19 vaccines, including the precaution dose, and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as using masks in public places and maintaining social-distancing norms to 'overcome the impending Covid outbreak'.
Candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate 2023 exam will now be eligible to participate in the counselling process.
The SC bench said that the Yog Guru cannot "abuse the doctors and the systems (of treatment)..It is better to restrain him".
A doctors' body has threatened to launch a stir if the Maharashtra government doesn't take action after a video of the acting dean of a state-run hospital in Nanded, where 31 patients have died in 48 hours, being forced to clean a toilet by a Shiv Sena MP went viral.
The H3N2, which has been in wide circulation for the past two-three months, causes more hospitalisations than other subtypes, said ICMR scientists who keep a close watch on ailments caused by respiratory viruses through the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories network.
Members of the IMA and IPA had met Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday and expressed their concerns over the regulations.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the controversy featuring Baba Ramdev and the Indian Medical Association.
Renowned oncologist and former chief of the Indian Medical Association's Goa unit Dr Shekhar Salkar said the number of cancer cases is on the rise with the increase in population across the world.
A fourth COVID shot is unwarranted at the moment as most people in the country are yet to receive their third dose, they said.
According to Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman, national Indian Medical Association Covid Task Force, the current scenario qualifies as a wave.
The doctors' bodies said that the two sides reached consensus during talks with the state government agreeing to keep private hospitals that have not availed land at subsidised rates or other benefits from it outside the ambit of the proposed law.
Dominic Xavier stands in solidarity with the protesting doctors and asks why the government wants to put patients's lives at risk.
'The protective effect of the vaccine lasts for about nine months to a year.' 'For health workers that period is already over. This is the right time to augment their immunity.'
The association's reaction came after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the country is "in the end game of the COVID-19 pandemic" and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the coronavirus is nearing an "endemic" phase in the national capital.
The Indian Medical Association on Monday expressed shock over the 'blatant lie of World Health Organisation certification' for Patanjali's Coronil tablet, which the company claims is an evidence-based medicine to fight COVID-19, and demanded an explanation from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in whose presence the medicine was launched.
The Indian Medical Association states that cases are likely to rise further before coming down in Kerala as about 50 per cent of its population is still susceptible to the virus.
"The Indian Medical Association has requested all its 3.5 lakh members in 1,800 local branches to voluntarily come out to get vaccinated first to show the world that these vaccines are safe and efficacious," it said.
Taking people for ransom and winning business by defaming scientific medicine are unpardonable offenses, the IMA said.
A 23-year-old doctor was stabbed to death on Wednesday at a taluk hospital in Kottarakkara area of Kollam district in Kerala allegedly by a man, a school teacher under suspension, who was brought there by police after being involved in a fight with his family members.
As many as 730 doctors have succumbed to coronavirus infection during the second wave, according to data available by the Indian Medical Association in mid-June.
Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra has come under fire from several quarters after he was seen forcing the Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital.
According to the IMA, as many as 420 doctors have lost their lives so far during the second COVID-19 wave and 100 out of these casualties have been reported from Delhi
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Indian Medical Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that vaccination be allowed for all people above the age of 18 years.
"The COVID-19 cases are rising, but hospitalization and deaths are still less," said sources.
Some doctors were absent from duty for 20 years, others for 15, some for 12. About 64 doctors remained absent from duty for more than five years.
"They are just making a noise. They keep creating trends like Thug Ramdev, Mahathug Ramdev, Giraftar Ramdev and so on," he said responding to #Arrest Ramdev trends on social media.
"Provide enough infrastructure and money to carry out surveillance and set up a robust routine surveillance machinery for the country to monitor any and every infectious disease'
The plea filed by advocate Rashmi Singh said that widespread vaccination of all young and working population is essential to arrest the deadly surge of the coronovirus in its second wave.
These entities did not apply for renewal of their FCRA licence. In addition, the Union home ministry also rejected renewal applications of 179 organisations, officials said.
The apex court was hearing a petition seeking directions to the authorities to ensure adequate security at hospitals and medical centres to prevent attacks on doctors and healthcare workers by relatives of patients and others.
Earlier this week, the top doctors' body in the country, the Indian Medical Association, said the third wave is "inevitable and imminent", pointing out that "in many parts of the country both the government and public are complacent and engaged in mass gatherings without following Covid protocols".
Seventy per cent of the people who received a booster dose of the Covid vaccine did not contract the disease during the third wave, according to a new study that covered nearly 6,000 people in India.
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