The Indian Homoeopathic Medical Association (IHMA) has demanded to the government to ban the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of the swine flu drug Influenzinum200, manufactured by Dr Reckeweg, a German pharmaceutical company.

The association has written to Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH), Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), Central Ayush department, Maharashtra FDA and all the state drug control authorities to immediately stop the OTC sale of Influenzinum200. According to sources, the drug is being promoted by pharmaceutical lobbies on whatsapp and facebook as a preventive medicine for swine flu and it is being sold without the prescription of registered homoeopathic practitioners.

Dr.Pawan S Chandak, national vice president, IHMA informed that Influenzinum was not included in  Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India, so it cannot be sold directly without the prescription. It is prepared from virus, yet it lacks efficacy with no scientific clinical research data available. Therefore, it is not proved, so its dangerous to use it without the prescription of registered homoeopathic practitioners.

He further says, “Homoeopathic pharmacy in Andheri, Mumbai sold 20,000 dilution bottles of ‘Influenzinum. It is unethical and legally serious matter if pharmacists are selling Influenzinum200 over-the- counter and promoting it on whatsapp & FB without any scientific base. It is unnecessarily promoted by pharmaceutical lobbies for self interest, as Influenzinum is a rarely used medicine and its stock is pending since 2009 after the epidemic of swine flu in 2009.”

The drug is not registered in Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India and in homoeopathy preventive medicine is prescribed only on the basis of ‘Genus Epidemicus'. Even as per Materia Medica no clinical picture of swine flu matches with Influenzinum.

“We are objecting the OTC sale of Influenzinum200 because it is going against the Homoeopathic Laws & Organon. It is good to promote homoeopathy amongst general public on social media. But it must be within our Homoeopathic Laws & Principles. We all must understand that homoeopathy is based on individualisation concept. In case of epidemic diseases we must follow ‘Genus Epidemicus concept’,” says Dr Chandak.

Further he opined that CCRH suggested Arsenicum album 30 as a preventive medicine for swine flu and it was better to use commonly used medicines such as Gelsemium, Bryonia, Eupatorium as preventive medicine as per locality and common clinical picture of viral illness.