Truth behind Baba Ramdev's Coronil

Hello everyone, as we all know on 23rd June, 2020 Patanjali Ayurved launched an ayurvedic treatment kit called ‘Coronil’ as a ‘cure’ for COVID-19. Ram Kisan Yadav, popularly known as Baba Ramdev, the face of Patanjali, stated that the kit was developed using “clinically controlled trial” and claimed that it was a “100% cure for COVID-19”. The kit contains three bottles of :-

1). Swasari Ras tablets or (DRS)
2). The herb mixture is two-part Giloy, one part Ashwagandha and one part Tulsi.
3). Anu Taila (nasal oil drops)

Subsequently, the AYUSH ministry issued a statement that Patanjali Ayurved has been asked not to advertise the drug as a cure for COVID-19 due to the lack of documents (i.e. proof of efficacy)

(https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1633690)

Patanjali released a set of documents that included :-

1) The previously circulating clinical trial registry document (CTRI), which was registered on May 20, 2020

2) A letter to the AYUSH drug policy section that detailed the composition of the drug, the details of the clinical trial and where it was conducted.

3) Two links of the research articles enlisted within the composition of the drug.
Further, the license officer of Ayurved Department in Uttarakhand has stated that Patanjali’s application was approved for use as an immunity booster and not a drug for COVID-19.
 

 
Apart from the CTRI which is a registration of the Clinical Trial (not a published RCT study), only the two research studies were listed in the document given to AYUSH as proof of efficacy of the drug. None of these studies was the published Randomised Controlled Trails (RCTs) as stated by Patanjali.

Among the two studies, the first was related to tablet 1 (DRS) in the kit, and the second study was related to only one of the herbs in the Coronil tablet called Giloy. There were no studies in the document provided for Ashwagandha and Tulsi, the other two components of the Coronil tablet. Also, no study was provided for the third drug in the kit Anu Taila (nasal oil drops).
So, none of the scientific proofs given by Patanjali suggests that Coronil is an effective treatment for COVID-19 for the following reasons:

1) The first research study for Swasari Ras (DSR) is a study on mice and not humans.

2) Also, the second research study for Giloy is a computer simulation and not a study on any living species.

3) No toxicity or herbal interaction study was conducted to prove that the drug combination was safe or effective in COVID-19 patients.

4) The clinical trial registry document (CTRI) provided is only a proof of registration and not proof of results found within the trial.

In fact, claiming that such untested drugs will cure a 100% of COVID-19 patients amounts to a false assumption of treatment and the practice of false drug manufacturing under the garb of ancient ayurveda endangers the lives of people during the times of a global crisis. 

After a week full of controversy, Patanjali's Coronil will be finally available in stores but as an immunity booster. The Ayush ministry on Wednesday permitted Patanjali to sell Coronil as long as it is advertised as an immunity booster and not a coronavirus 'cure'.