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Bones of contention

The dictates of reason suggest that the key question in l'affaire Swami Ramdev is whether the ayurvedic `herbal' medicines manufactured by his Divya Yoga Pharmacy meet the requirements of law and public health. The raucous protests staged across north India by supporters of the self-styled Swami add up to a ear-splitting hullabaloo, diversionary and bereft of good sense. A slew of political parties has rushed in to issue him and his televised yoga lessons laudatory certificates without bothering to address the issues at stake. Predictable attempts have been made to portray those who have taken on the pharmacy's concoctions and exploitative labour practices in the public interest as denigrators of ayurveda, yoga, and even Hinduism. In May 2005, workers of Ramdev's pharmacy testified in written complaints that animal matter and human matter were mixed into some of its preparations advertised as ayurvedic and herbal. Their testimony was not taken seriously until Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and Member of the Rajya Sabha, took samples (duly purchased and backed by receipts) to Ayush, the department of the Union Health Ministry that deals with indigenous medicine. The prima facie finding that human and animal bones had been used in the preparation of two of the `herbal' concoctions needs serious investigative follow-up. The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, has confirmed that the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad has found DNA of human origin in the samples. The indication that both licensing and labour laws have been violated is sufficient cause for the Ministry to order fresh tests immediately.

Ayurvedic medicines fall under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which makes no distinction between allopathic and alternative systems of medicine when it comes to labelling. Failure fully to disclose the ingredients used in a medicine amounts to misbranding — a charge that can result in the withdrawal of the licence to manufacture and criminal prosecution. Non-allopathic systems of medicine have been traditionally popular in India and their widespread manufacture poses special regulatory challenges. Ayurvedic medicines are produced by several thousand ventures; in addition, several neighbourhood pharmacies come up with their own unregulated concoctions. Surveys reveal that adulteration of alternative medicines is rampant across India. One study, conducted between 2000 and 2002 by the National Pharmacovigilance Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, reported that 26 per cent of such drugs tested positive for steroids; in the ayurvedic group, 31 per cent of the samples were found adulterated. Serious ayurvedic practitioners must be concerned that the Ramdev pharmacy's alleged practices will damage the image of their profession. The life-affecting issues raised by this affair should not be lost in a morass of politicking and irrationality.

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