The COVID-19 crisis is not abating, and apparently it will take a long time before medically proven methods to fight against the new strain of the corona virus are verified. We are witnessing the promotion of unproven methods and medical means whose effectiveness is extremely doubtful on social networks and on certain televisions with a national frequency. Their application without accompanying clinical studies can have unforeseeable consequences. It is worrisome that people who do not have any formal education in the field of medical sciences, but have access to the media, are increasingly involved in the promotion of the mentioned treatment methods.
One of the most recent examples of this kind is the "discovery" of the effectiveness of the so-called methods of "blood ozonization" in the fight against the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Behind this discovery stands no less than one television owner who not only has never engaged in scientific work in the field of medical sciences, not to mention narrower scientific fields such as virology, but also lacks the most basic medical knowledge. Since quackery is a phenomenon that has existed since diseases existed, in all modern countries criminal responsibility for this type of activity is regulated by law. In Serbia, Article 254 of the Criminal Code treats as quackery the situation in which someone without the appropriate professional training deals with treatment, preparation of medicines or provision of other medical services (fine or imprisonment for up to three years). Furthermore, in Article 252 of the same law, it is clearly stated that whoever performs medical or other similar experiments on people contrary to the regulations will be punished with imprisonment from three months to five years.
From the above, it is more than clear that the actions of the owners of Pink Television are subject to criminal and material liability. In addition to the mentioned method of "blood ozonization" he implemented on himself, he will also apply it on his employees (according to his Twitter statements that "on March 16, he started the ozonization of Pink"). He also misled the public about the effectiveness of the mentioned treatment method of "blood ozonization" in prime time news programs on his television. However, for us as an organization, which, among other things, advocates for the defense of scientific principles and the authority of the profession, it is devastating that persons who are recognized by the domestic public as the main authorities in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in Serbia, failed to jointly fence off at least from the way of promoting this method when guesting on Pink television.
For the sake of truthfully informing the domestic public, it should be said that in April 2016, the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) banned all medical uses of ozone: "in any medical condition for which there is no evidence of safety and efficacy", stating: "ozone is a toxic gas with no known beneficial medical application in specific, supplemental, or prophylactic conditions.” There is not a single regular clinical study to justify ozone therapy. Based on published scientific works, ozone damages hemoglobin in erythrocytes, which can accumulate and cause serious disorders in the blood. Exposure to ozone, close to the level of the external environment, causes impairment of lung function and inflammation of the airways in elderly healthy individuals, as well as in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, without an effect on the prothrombotic state. Ozonated autochemotherapy does not affect blood coagulation parameters in hemodialysis patients and does not cause an inflammatory response.
Do we want to live in a world of fake doctors and diplomas or in an orderly society where the paths for acquiring knowledge and for promoting new solutions in all segments of our lives are clearly laid out? The bold and self-confident presentation of untrue scientific and medical facts without reactions from competent institutions sends a worrying message that those who make decisions on behalf of all of us are unwilling or unable to recognize the complete denial of education, science and the profession. That is why it is now up to us, people of science and profession, to raise our voices against such phenomena, which in normal society should be banished to the dark underground where pseudo scientists, conspiracy theorists and misunderstood geniuses reign. Unfortunately, it seems that today we live in a twisted world of disturbed reality, which has just been mastered by these, freed from the underground, miscreants.
Coordination Committee
Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA)
