In a powerful challenge to prevailing public health narratives, Prof. K. Busia, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Pentecost University, has systematically dismantled the automatic attribution of kidney diseases to herbal medicine consumption, calling for scientific evidence over anecdotal assumptions.
Drawing a direct parallel between pharmaceutical and herbal medicines, Prof. K. Busia stated: “Herbal medicines… they claim that because it can cure everything, it has no side effects. They overdo it, naturally it’s going to lead to some adverse effect. In the same way with a lot of the drugs that are prescribed by doctors – if you take overdose of paracetamol, you’re going to die.”
The respected academic did not mince words in characterizing the current public discourse. “So I think the information out there is based on ignorance, basically. That’s the word I’ll use.”
Dr. Busia highlighted the logical fallacy in automatically connecting herbal medicine use to organ damage: “The mere fact that somebody presents a kidney problem, presents a cardiac problem, presents a hepatic problem, and then maybe during interrogation… the person says, ‘oh, I was treating myself with herbal medicines’ – it doesn’t necessarily mean the herbal medicine is what caused that.”
While acknowledging that herbal medicines can potentially cause harm, Prof. Busia emphasized the complexity of medical diagnosis: “It doesn’t mean that herbal medicine cannot cause that. It can, but it depends on what other things the person has done. Was the person taking some over-the-counter medications, for example?”
The core of his argument rested on scientific rigor and the absence of conclusive evidence: “There are a lot of confounding variables, and not until we can see scientific proof in the literature which says that over-consumption of herbal medicines over prolonged periods is what is causing these problems… as a scientist, I would not accept that.”
This intervention comes amid growing public skepticism about traditional medicine and represents a significant defense of evidence-based evaluation rather than emotional reaction. Prof. Busia’s comments advocate for a more nuanced understanding of health causation that considers multiple factors rather than simplistic attributions.
The statement serves as both a critique of current discourse and a call to action for more rigorous scientific investigation into the safety profiles of both traditional and conventional medicines.
About Prof. K. Busia:
Prof. K. Busia serves as Pro Vice-Chancellor of Pentecost University and is a respected voice in academic and scientific circles, particularly on matters of healthcare integration and evidence-based medicine.
