Patanjali Ayurved's Coronil was launched in February.
The inclusion of yoga guru Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved's Coronil in the Uttarkahand government's COVID-19 kit amounts to "mixopathy", the Uttarakhad unit of the Indian medical Association said today, raising strong objection to the proposal.
Pointing out that Coronil has not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and that the ayurvedic medicine is not included in the central government's guidelines, the doctors' body said, "The addition of Coronil with allopathic drugs shall also amount to mixopathy (cocktail of ayurveda and allopathy), which is not permitted as per the rulings of the Supreme Court, and using it would be contempt."
Coronil, which claims to boost immunity against COVID-19, was launched in February at an event where Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were also in attendance.
Coronil will be part of the Haryana government's free Covid kit for the patients in the state, the state's Health Minister had said last month, drawing widespread criticism.
The top doctors' body's opposition is the latest in a string of controversies over Ramdev and his recent statement against allopathic medicines. He has faced widespread criticism for saying in a video that more people died of modern medical treatments during the COVID-19 crisis than coronavirus itself.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court sent him a notice after the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) filed a lawsuit over his statements. The court, however, rejected the request by the doctors' body to "restrain Ramdev from directly or indirectly publishing offending material".