The Delhi government has informed the High Court on Tuesday that the trial of three homeopathic medicines for Covid-19 was commenced in October this year after obtaining clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee and Clinical Trial Registration, will likely to be completed by January/February 2021.
Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Jawahar Raja, told the court that the sample size of its trial was about 18,000 persons.
“The study had commenced in the last week of October, and by now, 3,000 samples have been registered. The study is likely to be completed by January/February 2021,” it said.
Earlier the Delhi government told the court that “there shall be no financial implication of this on the Directorate of AYUSH, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi as funding was to be provided by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India under an extramural research scheme”.
It also told the bench that it had in May this year set up a five-member advisory committee to examine and suggest steps of the homeopathic system of medicine for boosting immunity against Covid-19 infection.
To contain the Covid-19 infection by using homeopathic medicines, the government also stated that it has on its own taken steps that include the distribution of Arsenicum album 30 as prescribed by the Ministry of Ayush.
During the hearing, the bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad was irked that CCRH has failed to furnish details of clinical trials of APT combination it was carrying out for fighting Covid-19 infection.
“What studies or research are you doing? Which combination (of homeopathic) medicines have you researched? Why are you not telling us? What kind of process are you researching? When will it bear fruit? You don’t utter a word about it in your affidavit. It looks like CCRH is waiting for the fourth wave (of Covid-19) to do anything,” the court said.
The bench directed CCRH to file a fresh affidavit indicating when it commenced the eight trials that it claims to have begun, in collaboration with whom and what stage they are.
The High Court’s direction came while hearing a plea by two homeopathic doctors, Kerala-based Dr. Ravi M Nair and West Bengal-based Dr. Asok Kumar Das, seeking directions to the Ministry of Ayush and CCRH to allow homeopathic practitioners to dispense homeopathic medicines as a supplement to allopathic ones, to treat for Covid-19, so desired by the patients.