‘Homeopathy Is Just Alcohol’, Says Doctor-Researcher

New Delhi: Raising concern over the amount of alcohol used in some homoeopathic medicines, a doctor has alleged 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 homoeopathic medicine frequently prescribed for treating fatigue, has a standard alcohol concentration of 40%, the same amount that a branded whiskey contains.

Philips is known for his tweets and YouTube videos that claim to debunk pseudoscience. In the tweet, he called homoeopathic doctors “glorified bartenders” and claimed the alcohol used in the homoeopathic medicine is of the same quality as inexpensive blended whiskey. While branded whiskey, he said, is available only in authorized licensed shops, airports and government-run outlets, the homoeopathic medicine with a 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 has contributed to several research papers, including one on homoeopathic remedies-related severe drug-induced liver injury, according to Hindustan Times. In the paper titled ‘A series of homeopathic remedies-related severe drug-induced liver injury from South India’, published in Hepatology Communications, he and other researchers warned that physicians, the public, and patients must realize that Homeopathic drugs are not ‘gentle placebos.’

He 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!”

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.