Fact-Check: Pills in Viral ‘Medicine Jihad’ Clip Are Not Made or Sold in India
Neither of the medicines seen in the 'medicine jihad' video are sold or manufactured in India.
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A video showing nails being taken out of two different capsule casings is being shared on social media.
What are users claiming?: The video is being shared with text which says "Be careful, a new form of jihad has started. Its name is 'medicine jihad'. Please make sure to check any capsule before you buy it. Watch this video."
The video was viral in 2021 with the same claim.
The Quint received multiple queries about the video on its WhatsApp tipline and over email.
(Archives of more posts sharing this video can be seen here and here.)
But...?: We found that the medicines seen in the video are called Esoral 20 mg and Enterofuryl 200 mg.
Neither of these medicines is manufactured or sold in India.
Esoral 20 mg is manufactured and sold in Pakistan and Bangladesh, whereas Enterofuryl 200 mg is made in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
How did we find out?: We noticed that the video was a mix of two clips showing different medicines.
Clip 1
We noticed that the box for the blue-coloured capsule was visible in the video.
It showed the medicine's name as 'Esoral 20 mg' capsules and mentioned that it was a proton pump inhibitor.
The medicine's name is Esoral.
(Source: WhatsApp/Altered by The Quint)
Using its name as a keyword, we looked for more details about the viral clip.
This led us to a clearer version of the video on YouTube.
Behind the pack, it showed that the medicine was manufactured by City Pharmaceutical Laboratories and mentioned the location as Karachi.
The strip was manufactured in Karachi, Pakistan.
(Source: YouTube/Altered by The Quint)
We looked up the company's name, and the results showed that it was located in Karachi, Pakistan.
City Pharmaceutical Laboratories is located in Karachi, Pakistan.
(Source: Google/Screenshot)
Is it available in India?: A keyword search for the medicine's manufacturer on Google led us to a company in Bangladesh called Eskayef Pharmaceuticals Limited, which had this product on its website.
We also found that the company had four production facilities, all of which are located in Bangladesh.
The company has has manufacturing sites in Bangladesh.
(Source: SKFBD/Screenshot)
Our search found no evidence that Eskayef Pharmaceuticals' Esoral 20 mg was made or sold in India.
We also did not find any credible reports of nails being found in their medicine.
However, we could not trace the video back to its source.
Clip 2
We used relevant keywords to look for a clearer version of the second clip.
We found a YouTube short published in February 2021, which showed a name in Cyrillic script.
On translating the name of the medicine with the help of Google Lens. It translated the name from Belarusian as 'Enterofuril 200 mg'.
The medicines name was translated to 'Enterofuril 200 mg'.
(Source: YouTube/Google Lens/Altered by The Quint)
Where is this medicine made?: A Google search showed that the medicine was called Enterofuryl and was manufactured by a company called Bosnalijek.
The company's website mentioned that it was located in Bosnia and Herzegovina and did not have an office in India.
The company is located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(Source: Bosnalijek/Screenshot)
Can I get Enterofuryl in India?: Nope. Bosnalijek does not sell or make any of its medicines in India.
A search for the company's presence in India yielded no results.
Like the previous medicine, we found no credible reports or evidence of nails being found in Enterofuryl capsules anywhere.
Conclusion: While we could not find the source of this video, we found that both medicines are neither manufactured or sold in India. So, there is no evidence to back that people are being targeted with "medicine jihad" in India.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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