Yoga show: UK regulator tells Zee to pay Rs 25 lakh fine

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In its ruling, the UK’s independent regulator for the communications industry said: “OfCom found that the claims made in the programme amounted to medical advice and as a result some viewers with serious medical conditions might not seek, forego, or delay conventional medical treatment on the basis of what they had seen.”

OfCom said it found the claim made by Dr Naram, that he had 75,000 cancer patients living normally for 15 years after they were told by the doctors that they wouldn’t live for over three months, dodgy. The watchdog said there was an appreciable risk of harm to viewers who followed the alternative treatments advised in the programme.

Zee TV has withdrawn the show and agreed to pay the fine imposed by OfCom. “It was a mistake,” said Neeraj Dhingra, CEO, Zee TV, Europe. “In India, ayurveda is a recognised practice. Therefore, shows promoting ayurvedic cures for diseases are not seen in violation of the law of the land. Here (Europe), ayurveda is not a recognised science so any claims to treat diseases outside of the legal medical framework run foul of the law,” said Dhingra, adding that the show was immediately withdrawn.

In India, television shows promoting alternative medicines and practices that claim to cure serious diseases such as diabetes or hypertension among many others are common. While the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and industry watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India keep raising red flags from time to time and have forced withdrawal of several such shows, the practice continues unabated.

Zee TV, though, has clarified that it doesn’t run the show in question in India.