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Homoeopaths a worried lot

Doctors oppose sale of homeopathic drugs as ‘family kits’


Hyderabad:
Homeopathy doctors are opposed to the over-the-counter sale of homoeopathic medicines as “family kits” and special packages offered to patients for hair treatments, skin diseases and lifestyle diseases like thyroid, hypertension and diabetes. This is not how homoeopathy works as it is based on evaluations of the medicine and is not a synchronised system as is being doled out by city clinics, say a section of doctors.
In a strongly worded letter to the members of the All-India Homoeopathy Congress, Dr N. Krishna Rao said, “Patients are evaluated according to the disease in the first session and later given doses based on how the treatment is helping to cure the disease. A scheduled chart or a package defeats the very purpose of practice. This is not the manner in which homoeopathy is practiced. If these methods are not stopped, it will end up giving a bad name to the profession. The ethics committee and the annual conferences must deal with these issues, which are becoming a major bone of contention.”
In a race to attract more patients, heavy commercialisation has marred the profession, he added. The family kits sold as over-the-counter drugs have become a serious issue between a section of practising doctors and drug manufacturers. While the latter is keen to popularise them to boost sales, physicians oppose it stating that they will have the same effect as antibiotics on allopathy.
A senior homoeopath explained, “A family kit is a combination of seven to eight drugs in one kit. Hence, a person can take the medicines based on the symptoms suffered. But this is being done without clinical evaluation and people are randomly taking drugs, which then has adverse effects. When other problems develop due to the drugs, they approach a doctor. Hence, while it is a wrong practice, some physicians are doing it as they have tied up with the drug manufacturers supplying these kits.”
Those opposing the decision to sell these drugs claim that their voice is not being heard as there are tall claims of patient benefits.
Dr K. Gopala Krishna of the AP Homoeopathy Doctors Association explained, “Continuous representations were made to the government and now the kits can be sold only with a doctor’s prescription. Patients have been warned not to randomly use the kits and to instead call a doctor first. There have been cases where drugs have had adverse reactions. Hence, one group in the association is completely against it.”
Moreover, the issue of advertising, which has taken the industry by storm, is not being addressed in any conference or by the association. A senior doctor said, “The rules are very clear but no one is interested in following them. The police is supposed to take action under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act but that is not happening. With this kind of apathy, complaints have stopped coming to the association as it has not been able to address the issue at all.”

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