Arsenic toxicity from homeopathic treatment

Homeopathic medicine in the Indian subcontinent is commonly believed to be relatively harmless and hence has a wide use due to its easy availability and low cost. Homeopathic treatment, however, may often be quite dangerous as evidenced in the three cases presented below in which arsenic toxicity developed following homeopathic medicine ingestion. Case Reports: Case No. 1 is a 42 year old diabetic female presenting with melanosis and keratosis as dermatologic manifestations of arsenic toxicity following a seven day ingestion of Arsenic Bromide 1-X followed by consumption of other arsenic containing homeopathic preparations for a longer time. Case No. 2 is a 44 year old male who developed melanotic arsenical skin lesions after taking Arsenicum Sulfuratum Flavum- 1-X (Arsenic S.F. 1-X) for a year in an effort to treat his white skin patches. Case No. 3 is a 39 year old male who consumed Arsenic Bromide 1-X for six days in an effort to treat his diabetes and developed an acute gastrointestinal illness followed by leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and diffuse dermal melanosis with patchy desquamation. Within approximately two weeks, he developed quadriparesis due toxic polyneuropathy. Conclusion: Arsenic concentrations in all 3 cases were significantly elevated in integument tissue samples due to the arsenic content in the homeopathic preparations. The so-called "harmless" nature of traditional homeopathic medicine has, in fact, not been the case as evidenced by the cases presented.