A writ petition was filed in the Kerala High Court on Wednesday against the State Government decision to distribute homoeopathic drug Arsenicum Album 30CH (“Ars. Alb. 30”) among school students as a preventive medicine against COVID-19.
The petition was filed by Cyriac Abby Philips, a specialist in haepatology and liver transplant medicine in Kochi. According to him, Arsenic was “ranked first among toxicants posing a significant potential threat to human health.”
The metalloid was a known carcinogen and “there is overwhelming evidence that indicates exposure to even low quantities of Arsenic can cause liver damage and impair neurological function.” Research studies revealed that exposure to Arsenic, even in low doses, also caused cognitive and neurological dysfunction in children, he said.
No reliable clinical data were available in favour of the use of the drug. Ignoring all available evidence about the toxicity and adverse effect of Arsenic , the State was going to commence the first phase of distribution of Ars. Alb. 30 among schoolchildren from October 25.
