By: Editorial team, RHFI
Bathina family claimed that two lakh people from different walks of life — men and women and young and old — from various parts of the country including the Telugu States on Thursday 8th June availed the now popular “fish prasadam” to get cured of asthma and other breathing disorders.
Minister for Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav told the reporters that two lakh fingerlings have been provided to Bathini’s family by the Fisheries Department.
DCP D Joel Davis said to regulate the rush nearly 1,000 police personnel in addition to volunteers have been deployed. A makeshift control room has been set up with over 35 surveillance cameras. (All, with the public money.)
The medicine consists of a yellow herbal paste (whose composition the family refused to reveal) stuffed into a 5-cm long live murrel fish, which the asthmatic is made to swallow. The makers of the medicine, the Bathini Goud family, who administer the medicine claim that the wriggling of the live fish clears up the phlegm in a person’s throat. They also claim that if persons receive the annual dose for three consecutive years, they would be permanently cured of asthma.
Over the years, the event has received a great amount of support from the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments. According to the Bathini Mrugasira Trust’s website, the event is supported by at least 10 Telangana government departments, with the fish for the event supplied by the Department of Fisheries, the venue prepared and barricaded by the Roads and Buildings Department and the Home Department involved in traffic and law and order maintenance.
Varying levels of state support have existed for the event since 1997, when the then chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
provided the Goud family free use of public space, first at the football fields in Nizam College and then the Exhibition Grounds.
Opposition and Protest
Since 2000, a small but seething opposition has decried the remedy as sheer quackery and protested the government’s support of the event. One of the strongest challenges was the argument that the medicine could contain toxic concentrations of chemicals or could contain steroids. The Bathini Goud family conceded to having samples tested in laboratories. While these tests said that heavy metal concentrations were within acceptable levels and no steroids were found in the medicine, it did not provide any comment or analysis on curative components in the paste.
After complaints to the Drug Controller General of India, Goud family have stopped calling their fish cure a “medicine” in order to avoid legal challenges to the event. Instead, they now refer to it as “prasadam”.
In January 2016, a local court in Hyderabad handed out week-long imprisonment to the Bathini Harinath Goud, the organiser and a medical and health department secretary for violating conditions laid down by the court during the distribution of fish prasadam in 2013. Jana Vigna Vedika had filed a petition in 2014 alleging that the organisers and the state government had violated conditions such as display of a board mentioning that it was prasadam and not medicine, washing of hands before giving the prasadam to patients and other conditions.
Yet, once again in 2016 and 2017, the annual event has returned to Hyderabad, with ample public enthusiasm and substantial government support.
Fish Prasadam 2017: RHFI Investigates
We have been facing a lot of inquisition regarding the authenticity of apparent asthma cure conducted by the Bathini family.
“Asthma is partially psychosomatic in nature i.e., the mind can play an important role in aggravating or alleviating the symptoms of the illness. Treatments like ‘fish prasadam’ provide nothing but a placebo effect.
A placebo is anything that seems to be a “real” medical treatment — but isn’t. It could be a pill, a shot, or some other type of “fake” treatment. What all placebos have in common is that they do not contain an active substance meant to affect health.
The placebo effect is due to a person’s strong believe that he has taken a medication and that would work. If a person expects a pill to do something, then it’s possible that the body’s own chemistry can cause effects similar to what a medication might have caused.
People who took fish medicine believed that they had taken something that would cure their asthma. So due to placebo effect they might experience a short term relief, ” said Debashis Rationalist. He adds that the medicine might contain steroids which can be harmful. The procedure of swallowing the fish is extremely unhygienic and could lead to diseases like hepatitis.”
“This is scientific. People have taken our samples to labs in Japan, Germany and got them tested. The concept is that when live fish moves, wagging its tail and fins through the throat, it clears all congestion. Thus, providing cure to asthma,” Harinath Goud said.
Debashis added that this is a complete nonsense and reflects that Harinath Goud has no knowledge of the human anatomy.
There are so many questions that the family leaves unanswered.
Why does the fish have to be given on that particular day? What is so special about the day?
Why is it that particular fish?
Any ‘medicine’ must clearly state all its contents, but yet the family does not want to reveal their so-called ‘secret’, citing pharmaceutical greed and continues to peddle it under the label of a ‘prasadam’ now.
Such unhygienic, harmful quackery should be banned.”
This year Debashis visited the camp undercover, as an asthma patient to investigate.
His fact finding report says:
- The process is extremely unhygienic since those administering the medicine thrust their fingers into thousands of throats without adequate hygiene procedures, even without washing their hands.
- On the directions of the Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission, the Hyderabad district administration was ensuring that no child is forcibly given the fish medicine. The rights panel had issued the order early this week on the petition by an organization for children’s rights, Balala Hakkula Sangham. The NGO argued that forcibly giving fish medicine was a violation of children’s rights. But the medicine is still being administered to the children. Parents are often forced to pry open the mouths of reluctant children who cry at the site of squirming fish, while others pinch their noses, tip their heads back and close their eyes.
- Though the medicine itself is administered free of cost, the patient has to buy the murrel fish, which costs between Rs 20 and Rs 50 a piece.
- The TRS government is aiding the family by providing the grounds, facilities like municipal workers and policemen for the event.
Steroids found in Herbal Paste
Debashis Rationalist on behalf of Rationalists and Humanists forum of India observed the therapy. He used his sleight of hand to get a fish with the the herbal paste pushed inside the fish. He also got the extra quantity of medicine which is to be taken after 15, 30 and 45 days. Debashis got those tested in Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. The medicines contained heavy metal like lead and arsenic. The extra medicines that was given did not have traces of steroids. But steroids were found in the medicine that was stuffed inside the fish. Prednisone, Prednisolone and methylprednisolone were present in the medicine. These steroids are used for asthma treatment and should be prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner. Abuse of these steroids can lead to muscle weakness, osteoporosis, diabetes and growth suppression.
Fight Against the Quackery
RHFI demands and immediate arrest of the quacks. The government is at fault and should stop this aiding Bathini family. There is no need for the government to provide the facilities for the event.
On June 9th, RHFI filed a police complaint and filed cases under drugs and cosmetics act, drugs and magic remedies act and anti superstition act.
RHFI also sent a copy to the Department of Health and to Lokayukta of Telangana.
Lokayukta had directed the government not to support or sponsor the event as there was no scientific proof of the cure. Public funds should not be spent on it.
As a result, the Bathini family have temporarily closed their website http://www.bathinifish.com/y2.html. Also the print and electronic media had backed off supporting the family.
Agarwal samaj who were lending support in distribution of fish medicine have deleted the incident from their website.
The war is not over. Bathini family have got a strong political connection. But we believe that active protest of free thinkers like you can stop these kind of quackery and ensure that these quacks land up in jail.
RATIONALIST DEBASHIS 