IMA riled by Ramdev’s remarks on Allopathy; threatens legal action

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) threatened to move court unless Yog Guru Swami Ramdev is charged under the Epidemic Diseases Act for allegedly making anti-Allopathy comments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read | 270 doctors dead in second wave of COVID pandemic: IMA

On May 22, the country’s highest medical body released a press release in response to a video circulating on social media sites in which Yog Guru Ramdev is claimed to be speaking about the Allopathy branch of medicine.

In a press release, the IMA condemned Ramdev’s comments and requested that the “Union Health Minister either accept accusation and dissolve modern medical facility or prosecute him and book him under Epidemic Diseases Act.”

The IMA blamed Ramdev for making the video to “create a false sense of fear within the public” to market his “illegal and unapproved drugs.” 

Also Read | Assault at 19 to ‘psychotic break’: 5 things Lady Gaga revealed in new documentary

The association also raised objections to Ramdev’s statement “Lakho logo ki maut Allopathy ki dawai khane ke hui hai,”, asserting that it contradicts the expertise and credibility of the Drug Controller General of India and the Union Health ministry.

In the clip, Ramdev declared the Allopathy field of medicine “stupid and diwaliya“, while he earlier accused modern doctors of being “murderers”.

The IMA has also threatened to pursue legal action against Ramdev if no intervention is made by the Ministry.

In May, Ramdev ridiculed Covid-19 patients who needed oxygen assistance, saying that the patients “just don’t know how to breathe properly” and are “spreading negativity” by moaning about a lack of oxygen.

Also Read | What goes around comes around: Is livestream shopping the new QVC?

Following this, Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya, vice president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), filed a complaint against the yoga guru at the Jalandhar police station, requesting stringent action against him.

Dahiya accused Ramdev of using “defamatory and insulting language towards doctors” in his lawsuit.