Vaidya_ Narayana Moorthy - the cancer and kidney treatment specialist (!?)

Where: Narsipura, a village near Shimoga in Karnataka. More precisely, near Anandapuram. Reach Anandapuram by train or bus (or take a bus from Shimoga to here). All share autos from here lead to his house.

When: He gives the medicine only on Thursdays and Sundays. The wait time may be between 4 and 12 hours. Earlier you reach, the better it is.

Why: Why should you go to him? Because you have someone closely related affected with cancer and you are looking for some "special" medicine after all the regular treatment, in an effort to prolong the life expectancy of the patient.

What: What is his medicine? This vaidya uses barks of various trees that he goes and collects himself (now probably his sons do it) and prepares a mix of those. He specializes in treatment of cancer and kidney ailments. In addition, there is over-the-counter sale of medicines for diabetes, Gastric issues and arthritis (oil).

And the various Hows:

How is the typical experience during medicine collection?

First thing, it is not necessary for the patient to go. Anyone can go on behalf of the patient. They can carry the reports but my experience is that they are not looked at. You first register at the counter and wait for your token lot to be called.  Wait again after moving to another room till your number comes. A couple of basic questions are thrown at us. Cancer in which part? What stage? Is surgery over? Based on our answers, our medicine pack is given to us. Mostly its prepackaged, rarely vaidya makes one for us specially and gives. The typical interaction with him lasts less than a minute. An information pamphlet on how to use the medicine is provided once you move out of his room.

How many days does this medication last?

He gives medicine worth 27 days only. You are expected to go again after that and collect it. The typical course from what I heard is a year but I guess it might change based on the stage and the results, not sure though.

How much does he charge?

The cost of the medicine is Rs. 400/- (as of August 2019). One person gets only one packet. If you need two for same person, its not effective as apparently the medicine loses its power over that period. If you need for 2 different people, better take someone else along with you.

How effective is this medicine?

I don't really have any medical reports to prove the efficacy of this medication. I only have stories, some that I have seen personally and some hearsay. I had a relative who had abdominal cancer, underwent removal surgery (no chemo, early stage). Took this medicine for 1 year after surgery and  first anniversary lab testing had no traces of cancer.  That person is now 2.5 years out of surgery, doing perfectly fine.  Suggested this to my friend's mom who had stage 4 cancer in her bone (metastasized from breast) and she had undergone chemo also. Friend gave this medicine to her for 4 months before she passed away from an unrelated cause (respiratory arrest, she was 80+). Friend vouches that he saw an improvement in her after starting the medicine. Along with friend went another person (just as company) but when he heard that this vaidya treats kidney ailments too, took medicine for his mom. His mom is happy and stated, I quote "After a long time, I am feeling hunger and am able to eat after feeling hungry. So many days my appetite was lost. " (Not sure whether the renal issue got sorted out, he stopped going as my friend was no longer going after his mom's demise)

I went here personally as my close relative had cancer and operation was done. No chemotherapy was given, considering his age (75) and stage (stage 2 to 3). I have just started but I heard a few experiences there. I saw a person whose dad was given 10 to 15 days to live, by cancer specialists but now this is the 4th month that this person was coming to take the medicine.  I saw a young man whose younger brother (29) had liver cancer and they had done surgery and chemo at Apollo but this person was still bedridden and not eating but once this medicine started, in a month he started eating as hunger returned and within 3 months, that person has resumed work (software engineer).

To conclude, this vaidya is not a doctor and his medicine may or may not be proven in science. There is a high chance that the improvement seen in the different cases narrated above happened purely due to the modern methods employed and that this "medicine" acted only as a placebo. But the fact remains that there is a nearly 1500 to 2000 members worth crowd every Thursday and Sunday at his place. Would people flock there just because of hearsay, when they don't see results? 

Is there more to it than meets the eye?

Yes. This person has a brother who is practicing down the road and he administers the same medicine. He offers medicine for 2 months also if you ask. He does not claim that the medicine will expire in a month. He obviously learnt it from his dad too (from who Vaidya must have learnt). But his place is not crowded. Why? And is this 27-day limit helping proper treatment or is it just to create more hype?

DISCLAIMER:  This is not a recommendation by any way to visit this person. I do not claim to be sure of his credentials. That is why I refer to him as Vaidya (and not as "doctor") and I have italicized the word medicine throughout.