New Delhi: The drug regulatory body of Bhutan has said that Patanjali’s Coronil, which the company’s founder Ramdev has touted as a cure for Covid-19, will not be sold in the country.
The Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) of Bhutan, which oversees import and sale of medicines in the country, had last week said that Coronil has not been approved by it.
The body, which is also responsible for the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines sold in Bhutan, asserted there were “no approved medicines yet in the world to treat Covid-19” and it won’t allow pharmacies to sell products that claim to treat the novel coronavirus.
Kunzang Dorji, DRA’s head of inspection division, has been quoted as saying that the Patanjali outlet in Thimpu was inspected but it didn’t have Coronil.
Bhutan has so far recorded 77 cases of Covid-19, with 44 recoveries and zero deaths.
Also read: Modi govt steps up pressure on Patanjali, seeks more information on Coronil study
Patanjali Ayurveda’s U-turn
Launched last week, Coronil has since run into an array of controversies for claiming to cure coronavirus.
Most recently, a 17-member taskforce, formed to investigate the efficacy of Coronil, had submitted a report to the Ministry of AYUSH stating the drug shouldn’t be used as cure for coronavirus.
Taking a complete U-turn on claims it had made just a week ago, Patanjali Ayurveda CEO Acharya Balkrishna Tuesday said the firm never positioned Coronil as a cure or means to control coronavirus.
“We never told the medicine (Coronil) can cure or control coronavirus. We said that we had made medicines and used them in clinical controlled trials which cured corona patients. There is no confusion in it,” he told news agency ANI.
Balkrishna’s statement came days after Ramdev, in a press conference last week, said “two Ayurveda-based medicines had shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on Covid-19 infected patients”.
Also read: Patanjali intent behind ‘Covid cure’ not wrong but should’ve followed protocol: Ayush minister