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Ministry denies report claiming toxic Ayurvedic medicine
Responding to the article, published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), pointing finger to the pernicious effect of the metallic substances present in Ayurvedic medicines, the Ministry of Health on Wednesday quashed the entire report terming “flawed and biased.”
Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) under the Health Ministry stated: “The reports regarding Heavy Metals in Ayurvedic herbal medicinal products containing potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury and/or arsenic are flawed and disclose a strong bias against Ayurvedic medicines.
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The ministry also said that after the report published on August 27, samples of 600 Indian medicinal plants accumulated from the wild as well as various medicinal plant gardens in India were tested in three top laboratories - Indian Institute of Toxicological Research, Lucknow, Sri Ram Institute of Industrial Toxicology, New Delhi, and Centre for Research in Indian Medicine, Shastra University, Thanjavur.
The thorough testing revealed that Lead, Mercury and Arsenic present in these Indian medicinal plants did not have crossed the limits outlined by the World Health Organisation, the ministry said.
Robert B. Saper of the Department of Family Medicine, Boston Medical Center and his associates, in their article “Lead, Mercury and Arsenic in US- and Indian-Manufactured Ayurvedic Medicines sold via the Internet” published in JAMA, Aug 27 had indicated excessive amount of metals in Ayurvedic products.
The Health Ministry dubbed the fresh report is just a rehash of the earlier article written by the same author published in the JAMA journal on December 15, 2004.
The Health Ministry asserted that issues raised by Dr. Saper, howsoever flawed, will be responded to by Indian Scientists on the basis of their research on Ayurveda herbal and herbo-metallic medicines through research publications in due course.
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| 1. | It is indeed pleasing to see a quick response to the allegations made against ayurvaeda, the age old most trusted pride of India. I sincerely thank AYUSH for their proof based argument, and for re-strengthening the trust all over again. Infact I am myself woking on the microbiology of Ayurvedic preparations and am finding the results to be quite praiseworthy. Such derogatory public announcements must be sriously taken to task. M Jayababu, Dept of Microbiology, V S Lakshmi Women's UG & PG College, Kakinada, A.P. | M Jayababu 2008-09-06 |
| 2. | I think Government should promote Ayurvedic Medicine widely, to overtake Western medicine in western countries. | SREEDHAR 2008-09-05 |
| 3. | Ha! our govt. is always quick to jump up and defend things! Obviously plants will not have such high levels of metals as they are toxic to their biology. The paper is about 'manufactured drugs' containing high levels. We need some brains in the govt or we are dead! | dork 2008-09-05 |
| 4. | ANY medicines sold online are suspect, and the Indian doctors should have responded by purchasing and testing Western medicines sold online instead of defending themselves. Offense is the best defense in such instances. | Vijay 2008-09-05 |
| 5. | Please read the reply of Dr. Saper on objection taken on his work about ayurvedic medicine by me. Dear Dr. Mahesh, Thank you very much for your kind letter. I agree. Positive aspects need to be studied as well. Towards this end, I have proposed with Dr. Palep of Mumbai a study to the NIH and ICMR of a polyherbal formulation SUJAT he has developed to improve birth weight and birth outcomes. We are committed to a safe and effective Ayurveda for all. Sincerely, Robert Saper MD MPH | mahesh 2008-09-04 |