Mumbai: In a letter addressed to the Director of the Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) in New Delhi, the Dean of Seven Hills Hospital in Marol – a municipal hospital serving as a COVID-19 isolation hospital – has said that homeopathic medicine Zincum Muriaticum, at a dilution of 200 C, was given to some COVID-19 patients at the hospital, and that the recovery of these patients was a day or two earlier than other COVID-19 patients.
Joshi has also sought permission from the Director of the CCH – which is a statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH – to administer the same medication to more COVID-19 patients at the hospital. In his letter, dated April 21, the Dean of Seven Hills wrote, "This is with regards to the use of homeopathic medicines Zincum Muriaticum 200c (Four pills three times a day). When we used this above mentioned homeopathic medication to the COVID-19 positive patients in the SevenHills COVID-19 isolation hospital, Mumbai, it was observed that the recovery of patients was a day or two before other positive patients."
"We have used this medication for 24 patients, wherein the above outcome was observed. This will be followed with more number of patients with your permission," Joshi’s letter states. When contacted, Joshi told The Free Press Journal: "I believe in homeopathy, and I have trust and faith in this. I have given it to some of the patients, and the results were effective."
"I have heard that the ministry is also looking into it, and has said that practitioners of other streams of medicine can also come forward if they have any ideas on how to cure coronavirus patients. I am aware that discussions are on with the central government, and that a letter has been sent in this regard by the Dean", said Daksha Shah, Deputy Executive Health Officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
There is no vaccine or specific treatment proven to prevent or cure Covid-19 currently. Doctors in Mumbai have had a fair measure of success in curing patients with a combination of drugs used to treat swine flu, malaria, and HIV. For want of a specific vaccine or medication for Covid-19, doctors have been forced to fall back on hydroxychloroquine, oseltamivir, and Lopinavir and other medicines as the course of treatment so far. The same line of treatment is being used for patients ranging in age between 35 and 70. The treatment protocol of some of the cured patients shows that this cocktail of drugs has been successful in fighting the virus.
