'Some immunity boosters could harm liver': ILBS director cautions

“People are consuming many medicines assuming them to be immunity boosters. Some might be good but those with no scientific evidence, Ayurvedic, Homeopathic or anything else, could harm the liver,"Dr Sarin said, according to news agency ANI.

Amid a spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the country, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) director Dr SK Sarin cautioned people on Monday to not consume medicines in the name of immunity boosters as they could result in side effects such as liver damage.

Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences director Dr SK Sarin (ANI)

“People are consuming many medicines assuming them to be immunity boosters. Some might be good but those with no scientific evidence, Ayurvedic, Homeopathic or anything else, could harm the liver. In an attempt to avoid Covid, you could develop liver-related issues,” Dr Sarin said, according to news agency ANI.

ILBS, which is a mono-superspeciality hospital for liver and biliary diseases, is located in New Delhi and is a dedicated centre for the diagnosis and management of liver and biliary diseases.

Earlier in the day, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria also asked doctors to exercise caution while prescribing Remdesivir to patients saying that the drug is not a ‘magic bullet’.

“It is important to understand that Remdesivir is not a magic bullet and is not a drug that decreases mortality. We may use it due to lack of an antiviral drug and it is useless if given at an early state to asymptomatic individuals or to patients with mild symptoms. It is also ineffective if administered late,” Guleria was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

India, which is currently facing the second wave of coronavirus, witnessed yet another record rise in its daily cases of the viral infection as 273,810 fresh cases were reported across the country on Monday, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW). With this, the nationwide tally reached 15,061,919 and 1,619 more people succumbed to the viral disease, another daily record, taking the death toll to 178,769, the health ministry’s dashboard showed.

Several states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka etc continued to witness a surge in cases which resulted in the state governments imposing weekend lockdowns, night curfews etc in their respective states.