An Indian Doctor Claims to Have Found a Herbal Cure for Coronavirus

The scariest part about the coronavirus that has been taking over global headlines is that doctors have yet to find any cure, even as scientists make a preventative vaccine that will reportedly only be available a year from now.

The virus which was first reported in China’s Wuhan province in December and has more than 7,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of more than 170 has now spread to at least 15 countries, with India’s first case just being confirmed in Kerala today. While India’s alternative medicine ministry—The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH)—has recommended herbal remedies and homeopathy to prevent the symptoms of coronavirus, one doctor from the state of Tamil Nadu claims to have found a cure for the virus.

Dr Thanikasalam Veni from Chennai, who has 25 years of experience in Ayurvedic medicine, says he has come up with a herbal cure for coronavirus that he believes could actually be effective. "We have formulated medicine from an extract of herbs. It is very effective to cure any type of viral fever," he told ANI. “Coronavirus has no medicine. In China's Wuhan where Coronavirus has claimed over 50 lives, experts have no idea how to cure the disease. Our herbal extract medicine is used to treat dengue, multi-organ fever and acute liver fever." He also addressed the World Health Organisation (WHO) while speaking to the media and said that the medicine would work well to treat organ failure in coronavirus patients. "When we treated the dengue virus with our medicine, many patients with reduced platelets count, acute liver failure, immunity deficiency and low white blood cell (WBC) were cured within 24-40 hours," said Veni, who even offered to travel to Wuhan and test out his cure.

This comes just as India’s AYUSH ministry is facing flak online for saying Ayurveda could prevent coronavirus and releasing a list of herbal remedies that they believe can help provide relief to patients. Many are calling the claim “misinformation” and “ill-timed”. With no scientific backing to Dr Veni’s alleged cure either, the advisory can be seriously misleading for those experiencing coronavirus symptoms.

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