South Australian pair banned from using poisonous frog excretions in practice known as ‘kambo’

An Adelaide couple who practice an alternative healing method known as “kambo” have been barred from using the technique under new rules triggered by the death of a woman interstate.

An Adelaide couple has been banned from smearing the poisonous secretions of an Amazonian tree frog into open wounds after a woman died from the practice, known as “kambo”.

Carlie J Angel and Brad T Williams from Christies Beach, advertise kambo on their “Two Wolves — One Body” Facebook page saying it is a “powerful natural medicine, to assist deep healing and transformation”.

Kambo is promoted as a cleanse and the secretions are often put on deliberate burns in someone’s skin.

The frog is variously known by names including the giant monkey frog, giant leaf frog, or waxy-monkey tree frog.

Kambo Practitioners Carlie J Angel and Brad T Williams from Two Wolves — One Body. Picture: Two Wolves One Body/Facebook

The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner today issued a prohibition order against the pair and under new rules the order also applies in South Australia.

Commissioner Karen Cusack said the ban would stay while the Commission investigated the use of kambo, which can cause severe vomiting, fainting, facial swelling, and possibly seizures or death.

“I’m incredibly concerned about any services that are claiming to provide health benefits by using the South American poison, kambo,” she said.

“Kambo is often applied into open wounds created specifically for that purpose.”

South Australia’s Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner Dr Grant Davies is working with Victoria.

“Under legislative and code changes that came into effect in SA on Monday January 18, 2019, Two Wolves — One Body are also banned from offering services in SA,” he said.

A Waxy Tree Frog. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

In March, Natasha Lechner died in northern NSW from a heart attack after a “kambo ceremony”.

On Ms Angel and Mr Williams’ website they say kambo is their central practice and advertise $140 ceremonies in Adelaide.

They credit it with helping Ms Angel recover from a chronic illness.

They describe kambo as “the secretion from a frog found in the upper Amazon, that contains a powerful combination of peptides, neuropeptides and biopeptides that perform very specific and positive functions in the human body”.

In response to the prohibition order, the pair claim the death in NSW was unrelated to their practice, and they were co-operating with the probe.

“It serves as a wonderful opportunity to create an open flow of communication and information and will underline the importance of proper safety standards and protocols,” they wrote on their website.