Plea Challenging Govt Plan To Give Homeo COVID Immunity Boosters To Students Dismissed By HC
The Kerala High Court disposed of a plea challenging the proposal to provide Arsenicum Album 30CH (Ars. Alb. 30), a homeopathic drug as a COVID-19 immunity booster among school students.
The Kerala High Court on Friday disposed of a plea challenging the proposal to provide Arsenicum Album 30CH (Ars. Alb. 30), a homeopathic drug as a COVID-19 immunity booster among school students.
The plea was filed by Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, a specialist in Hepatology and Liver Transplant Medicine, alleging that no scientific data was available with the respondents positively indicating the efficacy and safety of the drug, although almost two years have elapsed since the Centre declared that Ars. Alb. 30 can be used as a prophylactic against COVID-19.
AFP
What the plea said
The petitioner had also stated that a study on adult individuals who consumed Ars. Alb. 30 revealed that they faced symptoms similar to that of individuals who were exposed to Arsenic poisoning.
The petitioner argued that children are more vulnerable to Arsenic toxicity and therefore, the steps taken by respondents of expanding the use of Ars. Alb. 30 to school children was, therefore, inhumane and called for intervention.
"Arsenic is known as the king of all poisons; due to the significant threat it poses to human health. Exposure to Arsenic can cause cancer, liver damage and several other health problems. Studies suggest that even trace amounts of Arsenic can also cause cognitive and neurological dysfunction in children," the plea had said.
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On Friday, the Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly deposed of the petition and directed the petitioner to approach the State with a representation in the matter.
Earlier this month, the Kerala government which had announced the resumption of offline classes for school students from November.
AFP
The government had also proposed to distribute the homeopathic drug among school students as an immunity booster.
The move was however opposed by several health experts. Even the Kerala chapter of the IMA had come out in opposition to the proposal.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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