Rob Sequin | Havana Journal

Cuba appears to feel compelled to release an article that downplays the effectiveness of Escozul and to announce that it does not claim Escozul to be a medicament (An agent that promotes recovery from injury or ailment; a medicine) or cancer treatment drug.

Use of Blue Scorpion Venom Not Authorized by Cuba

BY José A. de la Osa | Periodico26.cu

Cuba has not obtained any pharmaceutical product from the venom of a blue scorpion species (Rhopalurus junceus) that could be considered a medicament, according to the national and international norms established for drugs to be used on humans. This was stated in Havana by Dr. Rafael Pérez, the director general of the Bureau of Regulation for Health Protection and the State Center for the Quality Control of Medicines (CECMED) of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.

The scientist, a toxicology specialist and Permanent Academician with the Cuban Academy of Sciences, gave this warning due to information that has spread by different media outlets based on “empiric and popular criteria” that Escozul (name of the formula prepared with the scorpion venom) has analgesic, immuno-regulating, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties and that it is effective in the treatment of some types of malign tumors, specifically in patients in the terminal stage of the disease and for people suffering from AIDS and prostate cancer.

Also included are anecdotes of patients that refer to the “beneficial properties” and to the therapeutic success of the formulas.

Dr. Pérez indicated that, since 2004, Escozul has been in the preclinical research stage in the search for potential therapeutic properties, which include the description of the venom’s psychochemical and biological elements and pharmacological and toxicological studies, which are carried out experimentally on laboratory animals.

Until the results of this first research stage are obtained and evidence is presented to CECMED of the product’s safety -that it causes no damage- and it’s efficient pharmacological action is demonstrated, it is not possible to move on to the next stage, which is the authorization to perform clinical trials on humans.

Authorization for marketing and its use by means of the health register, according to Cuban Heath Law, constitutes a rigorous binding process backed up by committees of experts made up by specialists of high scientific level for all medicaments developed by our Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Industry.

The wide and erroneous promotion the scorpion venom has been receiving has gone beyond our borders, and mainly in Latin America a number of formulas of “the scorpion venom” are being commercialized, even with indications that they’re produced by Cuban laboratories or health centers.

It’s important to know, underlined Dr. Pérez, that so far we have no documented evidence showing the therapeutic action attributed to the blue scorpion venom that can justify its safe and efficient use.

Therefore, both the production process and the therapeutic use of Escozul are not authorized by CECMED, a center that has been certified by the World Health Organization as a competent regulating authority for the production of medicaments and vaccines, which this week celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding.

Escozul websites

There are a number of Escozul related websites on the Internet. Below is a sampling of them. The Havana Journal does not endorse any of these websites and this list is published for information purposes only. One could assume that the quantity (and questionable quality in some cases) of these websites could be part of the reason that Cuba felt compelled to write the article above.

cancer-escozul.com
cancerforums.net
corporativoatlas.com
cubaforhealth.com
cubamagica.com
doctoraxochitl.com
escozul-cancer.com
escozulcolima.com
escozulcolombia.com
escozulcontracancer.com
escozuldelcaribe.com
escozulmx.org
escozul-queretaro.com
grupocubamex.com
medalmex.org
medolife.com
naturismocontracancer.com
sslcolombia.com
zectorsur.com

Havana Journal Escozul Information

For many years the Havana Journal has posted numerous articles about Escozul and numerous discussion forums about Escozul.