Actor Salim Kumar recently shared how he fell prey to several fake 'vaidyans' after he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. According to him, many people delay proper treatment and seek proper care only after their condition turns serious. The actor was speaking at Amrita Sparsham, a programme started to celebrate 20 years of liver transplantation services at the Amrita Hospital.
“The truth is that many people seek treatment only during a later stage. Both me and (actor) Bala came to Amrita only when our condition turned critical. I am trying to bring your attention to what took us so long to get here. When I was diagnosed with a liver problem, I learned transplantation was the only option after I searched on Google. Since I was afraid of a surgery, I decided to look for other options. A friend told me that there is a 'vaidyan' at Ottappalam who even treats cancer. I had heard about him, and I remember helping a girl who had come there for cancer treatment book a room at the Ottappalam guest house,” he recalled.
“The 'vaidyan' told me that he would treat my liver cirrhosis within 51 days. He gave me a medicine and asked me to have it with kanji (rice porridge) for 51 days. However, my condition remained unchanged even after 500 days. Finally, when I called the 'vaidyan', he informed me he was undergoing treatment at Velloore for fourth stage cancer!
Later, the same friend who introduced me to this 'vaidyan' suggested another one at Cherthala. Since I was scared of the operation I met this 'vaidyan' too. His name was 'Mohanan vaidyar'. He challenged all doctors and claimed there was no cure for this treatment with allopathic medicines. He prescribed many medicines and also insisted that I buy all his organic farm produce. Not only was it expensive but he insisted that I should consume only that. He then gave me some grass and asked me to eat it. I started having it daily and started vomiting blood.
”When my son called the 'vaidyar' and questioned him, he said he gave me some medicine to eliminate some blood from my body. But then my vomiting started getting severe. Later he stopped answering my son’s calls. Finally, when we got through to him, he told me to get admitted to a hospital. I called my friend and told him that he was a fake doctor.
”Then we were told about a 'vaidyan' at Malayattoor. He instructed my wife to brew coconut water extracted from 500 coconuts to make a concoction. My wife would start in the morning to do this task but feel relieved at the thought that at least it would cure me. But I vomited after having that too. When she called the 'vaidyan', he said the body was rejecting his medicine and suggested using it as an ointment for body burns. Basically, he was saying that a liver cirrhosis medicine can be applied for body burns. My wife still uses that medicine for burns,” he said in jest.
According to Salim Kumar, a 'vaidyan' from Wayanad is now claiming he was the one who cured the actor. “He said it was his powder that saved me. When I went to meet the 'vaidyan' later, he said my weight gain was due to his medicine. When he wanted me to put that in writing, I agreed. Later they made it look like the medicine cured my illness and are currently using it as an advertisement. But later I realised that my weighing machine was faulty,” he said.
The actor cautioned about such fraudsters adding there are many people who are trying to extract money from poor people. “I am not talking about professional Ayurvedic doctors but about such people who claim to be traditional Ayurvedic doctors. These fraudsters will treat anything. I am grateful to (former Kerala chief minister) Oommen Chandy sir. He helped the poor who had to undergo kidney and liver transplants through the Karunya Lottery scheme (Karunya Benevolent Fund). That’s the reason why so many people flocked to see him when he died. The government should initiate such projects for the poor and the needy,” added Salim Kumar.