The General Secretary of the Indian Medical Association Dr Jayesh Lele lashed out at yoga guru Ramdev over his claims against allopathy and also questioned the credibility of claims made by him in connection with Patanjali's Coronil, which Ramdev has claimed is effective against COVID-19. “What do you know about allopathy? Have you ever studied it?” Dr Lele asked Ramdev during a debate held on the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak. The debate was held a day after Ramdev had to withdraw his statements questioning the efficacy of allopathy medicines. Smarting over the same, the yoga guru then sent a series of questions to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) if allopathy “offered permanent relief” for ailments such as hypertension and diabetes.
“Did we say anything against Coronil? Why did you comment against allopathy? You should have remained silent. The kind of statements that you are making, where you are claiming that more people have died due to allopathy than due to oxygen shortage, what nonsense is this! People from across the world are laughing at your statements, people across the world are complaining against your statement!" an angry Dr Lele said to Ramdev.
Dr Lele added that India’s death rate has been 2% because of the efforts of the doctors. “Doctors in India are doing good work and IMA will not tolerate muck being thrown on their faces,” Dr Lele added.
"Apart from emergency treatments and life-saving drugs, I can provide solution for all illnesses": @yogrishiramdev, Yoga Guru
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) May 24, 2021
"Why is he commenting about allopathy? Everyone is laughing at his statements": Dr. Jayesh M Lele, Secy General, IMA#NewsTrack | @anjanaomkashyap pic.twitter.com/Fx9NptAQCM
Dr Lele also took objection to packets of Coronil kept in front of Ramdev during the debate, and asked why so many people have died of COVID-19 if Coronil is so effective against COVID-19 as Ramdev so claimed.
“Is this an advertisement platform for Coronil? Has WHO certified Coronil? WHO has not certified Coronil,” the IMA General Secretary said. “We follow research and WHO guidelines. We do not claim ‘take this medicine, take that medicine,’ without due studies and research,” Dr Lele added. “Kya humein shendi laga rahe hai aap? (Are you fooling people)” Dr Lele fumed.
Despite Dr Lele's objection when Ramdev did not remove the Coronil packets kept in front of him, the news channel modified Ramdev's frame, possibly by zooming in, so that the packets are no longer seen on the screen.
"We are treating patients based on research. India's death rate is 2% because of its doctors": Dr. Jayesh M Lele, Secy General, IMA
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) May 24, 2021
"I retracted my statement, do they want my life now?": Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev), Yoga Guru #COVID19 #BabaRamdev #NewsTrack | @anjanaomkashyap pic.twitter.com/cSWHT7R7fL
On Sunday, Ramdev was forced to withdraw his unscientific statement made in a viral video clip in which he is heard saying that "lakhs have died from taking allopathic medicines for COVID-19" and calling allopathy a “stupid science.” He is also heard questioning some of the medicines being used to treat COVID-19. The remarks were met with vociferous protests from the doctors' association, following which Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asked him to withdraw the "extremely unfortunate" statement. Harsh Vardhan further said allopathic medicines have saved the lives of crores and his comment that the drugs are responsible for the death of lakhs is "extremely unfortunate."
Regarding the video in question, Ramdev had claimed he was reading out messages forwarded on WhatsApp.