Ayurveda

According to Akhilesh Sharma, visiting faculty, California College of Ayurveda, the ban is a systematic conspiracy to curb the growing popularity of the oldest system of medicine which has become more of a fad. He argues, “This malign campaign began in 2003 when the officials of Food and Drugs Act (FDA) picked up a couple of samples in Boston in New York. And they reported that they were adulterated , containing metals more than the permissible limit. But that is not true for when metals used for processing are used for preparations , they are purified and rendered harmless. And thus the medicines don’t cause any side effects. The MNCs who are levelling the allegations have not done any human trials but instead based their reports on lab experiments.”

Says ayurvedic physician, SK Gupta, “When the medicines are prepared, certain bhasms (compounds of metals) are used like that of zinc, silver, gold and iron. But if the arsenic is purified, then the toxicity of the metal is diluted and there is no problem in using that. The Indian government had passed a law recently to state the percentage of metal content for export drugs which has been put into force recently.”

Adds Gupta, “The controversy over the use of animal products is motivated. They are used only if they have medicinal value. Even animal products like tiger’s teeth and deer’s horn have curative properties but since they are endangered, they are banned from any usage. ”