Media watchdog fines Hindi channel for misleading claims that yoga can cure cancer

The medical benefits of yoga have been debated for a long time and the discussion gained prominence before the International Yoga Day in June. While it is an established fact that practicing yoga is indeed beneficial, it is also true that yoga is more about prevention than cure.

So when an Indian TV show claimed that yoga can ‘cure cancer’, it comes as no surprise that it was pulled up for providing insufficient information.

The show called Yoga for You, broadcast on the Zee Network’s Lamhe channel by presenter Pankaj Naram was fined £25,000 for providing misleading medical advice for treating cancer and hernias by media watchdog Ofcom, according to this Guardian report.

Naram was reportedly quoted as saying that “75,000 cancer patients” who had been told by hospitals that “they won’t live for three months” were living normal lives 15 years thanks to yoga, the report said.

The OfCom ruling, according to a document on their official website,  said “We noted the Licensee’s clear and immediate admission that this broadcast material breached the Code, was broadcast due to “human error” by its staff in India, and that Zee TV has taken various steps to improve compliance and training in relation to the Code. Nonetheless, Ofcom regards the breach of Rule 2.1 in this case with particular seriousness, because it contravened a fundamental requirement of the Code for broadcasters to provide viewers with adequate protection from harmful content. “

The last fine handed out by Ofcom, according to Guardian ,  was for £100,000 to the Discovery Channel for broadcasting violent material on TV during the school holidays in a show about female serial killers.