Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has released a document prescribing protocol of prevention of Covid 19 infection and treatment of asymptomatic as well as mild cases of Covid 19 based on AYUSH and yoga.

Posers to the Union Health Minister

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has released a document prescribing protocol of prevention of Covid 19 infection and treatment of asymptomatic as well as mild cases of Covid 19 based on AYUSH and yoga. He has arraigned impressive names of institutions to support his prescription. He admits that these are based on empirical evidence which means that the evidence is anecdotal and based on individual subjective experiences. He himself relegates AYUSH as history rather than current by saying Ayurveda has contributed to foundation of modern medicine.

Science demands

Reproducibility of a claim elsewhere in non conflict situations
Double Blind Control studies
IMA prefers the following posers to the Union Health Minister who happens to be a modern medicine doctor.

Is there satisfactory evidence regarding the claims made from studies done on COVID 19 patients based on the above criteria? If so whether the evidence is weak or moderate or strong? The evidence should be in public domain and available for scientific scrutiny.
Whether the severe form of Covid 19 a Hyperimmune status or an immune deficiency status?
Whether the proponents of this claim and his Ministry are prepared to subject themselves as volunteers to an independent prospective Double Blind Control Study in prevention and treatment of Covid?
How many of his ministerial colleagues have so far made the informed choice of getting treated under these protocols?
What is stopping him from handing over Covid care and control to AYUSH ministry?

IMA demands that the Union Health Minister should come clean on the above posers. If not he is inflicting a fraud on the nation and gullible patients by calling placebos as drugs.

Dr Rajan Sharma Dr R V Asokan

National President, IMA Hony Secretary General IMA