Patients must be informed about halal drugs, Turkish doctor says

AFYONKARAHİSAR – Anadolu Agency

Drugs prospectuses should involve data about whether they are halal, and patients should be made aware of that data by doctors, according to a surgeon in Turkey’s Aegean province of Afyonkarahisar.

Dr. İlker Alat from Afyonkarahisar State Hospital cardiovascular surgery unit said that doctors did not give clear information about halal medicine to their patients, adding that cures could not come from any medicine forbidden by religion.

“We should not resort to haram – those forbidden by Islam – whenever we have a disease. We should have measures to reach the halal resources, which is a responsibility for anyone,” Alat said.

“The general health practices do not comply with halal practices. It should be compulsory to tell the patients about the content of the medicines. Medicine, which has ‘forbidden’ material, suture materials including animal tissues are used very often. Equivalents of these materials should be used or they should be produced in line with Islam,” Alat said. He also added that capsules covering drugs were made from pig and that he never prescribed them to his patients.

Alat said people must ask the Health Ministry and Religious Affairs Directorate to include this information in the drug prospectuses.