A further twist has occurred in the controversy surrounding the Bathini Goud family's famous fish medicine, which promises a cure for asthma. The Indian Medical Association (ima) has decided to issue legal notices to the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Andhra Pradesh chief secretary and the heads of the state's police, water supply, municipal and fisheries departments for allowing distribution of the medicine without its scientific basis and efficacy having been proven. It will also file a contempt of court petition against the state machinery in view of the High Court's (hc's) 2004 order. The hc had asked the state machinery to undertake scientific analysis of the medicine and take appropriate action on the basis.
The medicine, a herbal paste swallowed with a tiny live fish, is administered to thousands of willing patients every year by members of the Goud family at Hyderabad on the first day of the monsoon. ima has grave doubts about its effectiveness.
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