Unbelievable! Fish swallowing to cure asthma, in Hyderabad

From the archive record

Asthma patients throng Bathini Fish Medicine Camp, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Bathini Fish Medicine (also known as Bathini Mrugasira Fish) is stuffed inside the mouth of live murrel fish (Channa species also classified as Ophiocephalus) of 2 in. to 2.5 in. (5 cm to 6 cm) in size. Then fish with medicine is slipped into the mouth of the asthmatic patient.(The fish is slippery, so there is no problem in swallowing it) This live fish moves, wagging its tail and fins, through the throat and negotiates the phlegm congestion, providing cure to asthma, it is claimed. The advice is to continue taking the treatment together with a strict diet over 45 days during each of three consecutive years. The claim is that this will give a complete cure from asthma. Bathini Fish Medicine is served and