Yahoo Finance Adelaide business banned from using Amazonian frog poison to treat clients
Two Adelaide healers have received a temporary ban from providing certain services after they allegedly used Amazonian frog secretions to treat clients.
The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner, Karen Cusack, announced the ban Monday, noting that the treatment – known as kambo – can trigger swelling, shaking, pain, dizziness, fainting and severe vomiting.
“I’m incredibly concerned about any services that are claiming to provide health benefits by using the South American poison, kambo,” she said.
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“Kambo is often applied into open wounds created specifically for that purpose.
“It’s not been registered for therapeutic use in Australia… In some cases, there is even a risk of dangerous side effects, including seizures and death, especially if the kambo enters the bloodstream.”
The business, Two Wolves – One Body, has received an interim prohibition order which prevents it from advertising, offering or providing general health services in Victoria related to kambo.
Cusack said the order will remain in place while the Health Complaints Commissioner conducts its investigation.
Kambo is a poison used in South American traditional medicine and purging rituals, Better Health Victoria stated. It’s collected by scraping the skin of the Amazonian tree frog, the Phyllomedusa bicolor.
During kambo ceremonies, participants’ skin is voluntarily burnt using a hot stick with kambo then applied to the open wounds.
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