Doctor Warned Against Offering Magical Cure

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 23 JULY 2018: Travancore-Cochin Medical Council for Indian Systems of Medicines has issued a warning to an ayurveda doctor for running advertisements on 'magic cures' in newspapers. The council has also brought the issue before the state human rights commission. "K Sidharthan has been asked to stop placing advertisements on magical ayurvedic remedies in the print media. He was summoned before the council and was warned against giving such advertisements, violating medical ethics. He is a registered medical practitioner. He has been told in case of violation his name would be removed from the register," the council registrar informed SHRC.

The advertisements, which appeared in certain Malayalam dailies, were first challenged by the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad, which approached the drugs controller (ayurveda) against the advertisements.

It submitted that claiming ayurvedic medicines can magically cure chronic ailments such as cancer amounted to cheating. The practice of fleecing unsuspecting people should be banned, the Parishad said.

The deputy drugs controller, Kollam launched a probe and it was revealed that the 'magic medicine' prescribed by the doctor for cancer, diabetes and thyroid was 'kaivalya thylam', which was classified in the records under patent and proprietary drugs.

However, an attempt to trace the supporting clinical trial documents mandatory for the drugs controller proved futile. The drug, according to records, had found place in the privileged category list in 2000. There was no supporting evidence available for corroborating its quality, the Parishad said in a complaint to the commission.

The deputy drugs controller, in his report, had pointed out that Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act cannot be evoked against the doctor. The provisions will attract action only if someone makes public claims about the magical properties of a particular drug. In this case, the doctor just makes claims and does not mention the name of the drug, the report said.The Times Of India