Ukrain ( uk, Україн; also called celandine) is the trademarked name of a

semi-synthetic Semisynthesis, or partial chemical synthesis, is a type of chemical synthesis that uses chemical compounds isolated from natural sources (such as microbial cell cultures or plant material) as the starting materials to produce novel compounds with ...

substance derived from the plant ''

Chelidonium majus ''Chelidonium majus'', the greater celandine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. One of two species in the genus ''Chelidonium'', it is native to Europe and western Asia and introduced widely in North Ame ...

'' and promoted as a drug to treat cancer and viral infections, including HIV and hepatitis. It was created in 1978, by a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

chemist Vasyl Novytskyi ( uk, Василь Новицький). Ukrain is named after the nation of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and is produced by the Austrian company Nowicky Pharma. According to the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

and the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

, there is no evidence that Ukrain is an effective cancer treatment.

Evidence

In 2005,

Edzard Ernst Edzard Ernst (born 30 January 1948) is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, alleged ...

led a review into evidence of the effectiveness of Ukrain. Although the review found evidence suggesting the drug was effective, it also concluded that "numerous caveats prevent a positive conclusion". Commenting on the review some years later, Ernst wrote on his blog that the results they were examining had seemed "too good to be true" – and on investigation the trials were very small in size, often seemed to include Novytskyi himself, and had significant methodological flaws. However, despite the cautious conclusion given, "this article became much cited. ... ovytskyimust have been delighted". The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center say that

clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

have yet to prove safety and effectiveness of Ukrain. The American Cancer Society stated that, as of 2013, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that celandine is effective in treating cancer in humans". It may however be responsible for some adverse side-effects including

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

and allergic skin reactions.

Legal incidents

Ukrain is not approved by the US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

. On September 4, 2012, several people including Vasyl Novytskyi, the drug's developer, were arrested in Austria for distributing the drug under suspicion of commercial fraud. Novytskyi appeared in Vienna regional court again in January 2015 for selling Ukrain, earning an estimated 1.1 million euros through fraud by changing labels on expired vials. In March 2015, two co-defendants of Novytskyi were exonerated for commercial fraud, while legal proceedings continue for Novytskyi. From October 2013 to April 2014, a licensed naturopath in Tucson, Arizona, Michael Uzick, was using Ukrain in his practice to treat cancer patients. He was reported to the Arizona authorities by Britt Marie Hermes, who discovered while working for Uzick that the unapproved drug was being imported. Uzick was given a letter of reprimand by the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

The official site from Nowicky Pharma about the drug Ukrain

CAM-Cancer information page on Ukrain
Alternative cancer treatments Health fraud Patent medicines Pharmaceutics Ukrainian inventions Organophosphoric amides

Evidence

Legal incidents

See also

References

External links