IMA president criticises Baba Ramdev for maligning doctors

Patna, Mar 25: Indian Medical Association President (elect) Dr Ajay Kumar today (Mar 25, 2006) exhorted members of the medical fraternity to prevent people like Yoga guru Baba Ramdev from maligning the image of their profession.

"Unfortunately, Swamis success of taking this art and science of rejuvenation has taken the matter a little too far and now he has not only started making tall claims of curing almost all the human ailments through Yoga and Pranayam but also started criticising the modern system of medicine and its practitioners," he added.

Dr Kumar, who is also the honorary secretary of Urological Society of India and chairman of Association of Promotion of Creating Learning (APCL), said, "Swamiji had gone to the extent of showing people on TV and claiming that diseases like cancer, cirrhosis of liver were incurable by modern system of medicine but could be cured by his (swami) 'magic treatment'." He alleged that the Baba had been also making derogatory remarks against doctors and the medical profession.

Dr Kumar said the medicines Baba Ram Dev were prescribing or marketing needed to be properly tested before being used on humans. ''The Nuremberg code of medical ethics clearly stated that any medicine, after experiments on animals, should be first tried on volunteers and then only be recommended for human consumption,'' he said.

He also stated that according to the Drug and Cosmetics Act of India, under section 2B dealing with Drug and Magic Remedies (objectionable advertisement), misleading advertisements relating to drugs and advertisement of magic remedies for treatment of disorders were prohibited.

UNI