The pandemic has led to proliferation of unfettered consumption of herbal drugs in #India - when we @TheKenWeb spoke to five liver doctors at leading hospitals we realised we are in for a storm of a different kind - that of herbal medicine induced liver injuries #Thread
Dr Arvinder Soin, top liver transplant surgeon in India and globally, told us that at least 6 cases of Giloy-induced liver injuries which required transplants had come to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram during 2020, of which two had died waiting for one.
Dr Abha Nagral in Mumbai was seeing a similar trend. A 20-year-old with a history of few weeks of immunity boosters consumption presented in emergency with jaundice. She is studying at least ten such cases and planning to publish the findings in a journal soon, she said.
Dr Selva Kumar from Apollo Chennai got a case of a 6-year-old boy whose family was consuming kabasura kudeeneer, he said the boy's liver could not take it any more, the doses were way too high for him. He suffered liver damage.
@TheKenWeb we spoke to five patients and here are few of their stories beautifully represented by @aishyinabubble in a graphic which is self explanatory. I will be happy to connect anyone with the doctor who treated them or patients themselves. They are against herbal drugs now. 
Young and Old, those who have consumed herbal meds for a few weeks to those who have been consuming them for a few years, threw up with liver damages. This graphic by @aishyinabubble @prajektor aptly captures the deterioration in patient's health.
Against popular perception, Ministry of AYUSH secretary Rajesh Kotecha told The Ken, that over-the-counter consumption of herbal drugs without supervision of a physician should be discouraged.
According to official data accessed by The Ken from AYUSH ministry, 677 cases of Adverse Drug Reactions due to herbal medicines have been recorded in it's pharmacovigilance programme over the last two years,there needs to be more transparency on investigation into these reactions
People think consuming herbal drugs under supervision of a practitioner is safe, but @TheKenWeb found in the story the lines between folklore, AYUSH doctors, over counter supplements is blurred, regulation is poor - patient consuming the drug suffers - the-ken.com/story/herbal-d…
@drabbyphilips is one of the few crusaders speaking out openly against the harmful practice of consuming herbal medicines, for conditions like jaundice, arthritis, weight management, so on. His colleagues have been bullied, FIRs filed against all of them on behest of companies.
Unlike other doctors @drabbyphilips has not cowered down to crazy pressures of the state, police and corporate entities who stand to benefit from the multi-billion dollar industry of AYUSH. Also take a look at how poorly regulated it is. graphic @aishyinabubble @prajektor
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