The Indian Medical association (IMA) the largest body of private practitioners in the field of allopathy asked the Health and Science Minister if there was any satisfactory evidence regarding the claims made based on studies done on Covid-19 patients; and if so, whether the evidence was weak or moderate or strong. The evidence should be in public domain and available for scientific scrutiny, they said. The statement comes after the ministry release of National Clinical Management Protocol for prevention and treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 cases.

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“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-19 care and control to the Ayush ministry?” were the other questions IMA asked the minister. IMA says science demands the reproducibility of claim. “…He admits that these are based on empirical evidence which means that the evidence is anecdotal and based on individual subjective experiences. He himself refers to Ayush as historical forms of treatment rather than current ones, by saying Ayurveda has contributed to foundation of modern medicine. IMA demands that the Union health minister come clean... If not, he is inflicting fraud on the nation and gullible patients by calling placebos drugs,” the members said in a statement.

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 “We have written an open letter to the health minister, and he has to answer to the people of India. He is the health minister, not the Ayush minister. What is the credibility of the document he has given? They have used words like ‘informed choice’ and ‘empirical evidence’ but these are quite vague. There is a risk of mixing systems during treatment—who will be answerable? We are in the middle of a pandemic, and trying to save lives. This is a serious issue,” said Dr RV Asokan, honorary secretary general, IMA. However, the ministry said the protocol was to treat COVID 19 patients in AYUSH hospitals.  “This is a reference point for doctors in Ayush hospitals and Ayush practitioners treating Covid-19 patients,” said a health ministry official, requesting anonymity. IMA has 1746 branches across India.

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