A doctor has raised concern over the amount of alcohol used in some homeopathic medicine, alleging that Homeopathy is “just rival business against the real alcohol lobby.” Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, a specialist in Hepatology and liver transplant medicine, flagged that Sativol, a homeopathic medicine frequently prescribed for treating fatigue, has standard alcohol concentration of 40%, the same amount that a branded whiskey contains.
Philips, known for his tweets and YouTube videos that claim to debunk pseudoscience, called homeopathic doctors “glorified bar tenders” and claimed the alcohol used in the homeopathic medicine is of same quality as in expensive blended whiskey. While branded whiskey, he said, is available only in authorized licensed shops, airports and government run outlets, the homeopathic medicine with similar amount of alcohol can be ordered through online pharmacies.
"Any kid or student can do this. This has major health implications among our youth. What will it take to ban these "alcohol masquerading as medicines.?" Who will take this step? This is really worrying." he said.
The doctor and researcher, who has contributed in several research papers, including one on homeopathic remedies-related severe drug-induced liver injury, said he ordered approx a litre solution, marketed as Homeopathy tincture, with 70-80% alcohol concentration which was delivered inside a hospital.
“Homeopathy is just alcohol everything everywhere all at once. This is crazy!”
{{/usCountry}}“Homeopathy is just alcohol everything everywhere all at once. This is crazy!”
{{/usCountry}}Philips also plugged his last month's Twitter thread in which he had claimed that potentized Homeopathy formulations contain “purely and only alcohol”, some going up to 90% concentration.
“All the happy people thinking this is a short cut to getting cheaper alcohol must realize that, thanks to utter nonsensical and complete absence in regulation of alternative medicine industry in India, Homeopathy products have led to severe liver injury, liver failure and death in consumers/patients,” he warned while sharing the link of his research paper.
Philips, along with other researchers, recently concluded in a study that Homeopathic remedies potentially result in severe liver injury, leading to death in those with underlying liver disease. In the paper titled ‘A series of homeopathic remedies-related severe drug-induced liver injury from South India’, published in Hepatology Communications, the researchers warned that physicians, the public, and patients must realize that Homeopathic drugs are not ‘gentle placebos.’