Ramdev challenges ‘medical mafia’ with clip from Aamir show

Ramdev shared a clip of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate where he discusses overpriced retail drugs

Yoga guru Ramdev has added fuel to the fire in his ongoing feud with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on allopathy and its efficacy by sharing an old video where Aamir Khan discusses the high retail price of medication.

Ramdev took to Twitter to post a clip of Aamir Khan’s show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ where doctor and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Samit Sharma says some drugs are sold in the market for up to 50 times their true value, advocating the use of low-cost generic drugs in their place.

The ayurvedic practitioner and businessman challenged the “medical mafia” to hold protests against Aamir Khan in his tweet.

Ramdev’s antagonistic remarks on modern medicine and his allegation that modern medical methods had led to the deaths of lakhs due to Covid have generated huge controversy and invited a defamation notice from the IMA.

Ramdev had withdrawn his initial remarks that Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also termed an "extremely unfortunate" statement. However, he has continued to poke at the issue, including penning an “open letter” on Twitter that posed 25 questions to medical practitioners.

The IMA has given Ramdev a fortnight to issue an official apology, failing which the body has said it would demand Rs 1,000 crore as compensation. They have also asked Ramdev to make and share a video clip on social media contradicting all his allegations and to take down a "misleading" advertisement touting his "Coronil kit" as a sound treatment for Covid-19 from all platforms, threatening an FIR if he fails to do so.

Members of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ associations have also said they would hold a nationwide protest on June 1 against the yoga guru’s remarks and sought an “unconditional open public apology”.

It was not acceptable for someone with a large following to be allowed to keep targeting modern medicine and disparage hardworking doctors and paramedics, IMA national chief J A Jayalal said on Friday, offering to withdraw police complaints if an apology was tendered.