Homeopathy News

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[Doctor X]

Well played!

--J.D.

[Witness]

Spain wages war on dubious homeopathy meds

Spain’s Health Ministry has blacklisted thousands of alternative medicine products in a bid to crack down on phony ailments and health treatments it considers to have “no scientific basis”.

If you’re a big believer in homeopathic treatments, Spain is no longer the place with the biggest range of remedies that can be bought over the counter.

The country’s Ministry of Health has released a list of only 2,008 homeopathic products whose manufacturers will have to apply for an official government license for if they wish to continue selling them.

The homeopathic producers on the list have until April 2019 to prove that their remedies actually work, which may very well slash homeopathic products in Spain to the bare minimum.

The rest of the more than 12,000 homeopathic ‘meds’ circulating around Spain for the past few years will no longer have the right to be sold in Spain nor the right to apply for the license.

It’s the latest blow for Spain’s homeopathy industry, once worth an estimated €100 million but which has seen a drop in public trust and therefore sales of around 30 percent in the last five years.

https://www.thelocal.es/20181031/spain- ... pathy-meds

And in other news (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2018/10/30/ ... 28877.html) only 12 of the 2008 have applied for a license.

[Witness]

Why is $350,000 in Canadian aid being used to send homeopaths to Honduras?

Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is an insidious tropical infection that begins with flu-like symptoms and can end with heart failure.

The only proven treatments are a pair of costly pharmaceutical drugs.

But a group of Canadian homeopaths say they can detect, prevent and treat the disease, and the federal government is paying to take their remedies to sick Hondurans.

Quebec-based Terre Sans Frontières (TSF) is spending $350,000 in aid money from Global Affairs Canada to dispatch more than a dozen volunteer homeopaths to Honduras over five years.
[…]
TSF spokesman Philippe Legault said homeopathy fills the needs of Hondurans not being met by their under-resourced health-care system.

"We're helping people to have some tools to work with their population and their health. We surely don't think that we can cure everything with homeopathy."

Legault points to the fact that the World Health Organization includes homeopathy as part of its Traditional Medicine Strategy. In response to an open letter from scientists and researchers, though, the WHO clarified that it doesn't support homeopathy to treat infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, influenza or infant diarrhea.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/federal- ... -1.5030384

[Witness]

↑ Meanwhile Canada has ditched these homeopaths.

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Ad watchdog orders homeopaths to stop claiming autism cure

Cease therapy can be harmful, and campaigners say autism is not a condition to be cured

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered 150 UK homeopaths to stop claiming they can cure autism.

Five homeopaths are facing prosecution for advertising Cease “therapy”, which is not supported by scientific evidence and can be harmful to children.

The National Autistic Society praised the advertising watchdog’s decision, saying autism was not a disease to be cured but a lifelong part of many people’s identity.

Cease, or Complete Elimination of Autistic Spectrum Expression, is supposedly a method of ridding children of toxins – including from vaccines and medication – that some homeopaths claim cause autism. Therapists claim they can cure autistic children using homeopathic remedies and dietary supplements.

The treatment includes giving children four to five times more zinc than is recommended by the Department of Health, and 200 times more vitamin C. Excessive quantities of vitamin C can cause diarrhoea and vomiting. Cease therapists claim this response is evidence of the child’s body purging itself of toxins.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... dit_is_fun

Are they now desperate enough to prescribe non-homeopathic doses?

[Witness]

From the Aussies:

Call to remove homeopathy products from pharmacies

PSA recently urged all community pharmacy banner and buyer groups to take a stand against the sale of homeopathy products by refusing to stock, promote, recommend or market them.

The call to action was issued via an open letter from PSA National President Dr Chris Freeman addressed to major banner and buying groups.

The move is aligned with the Choosing Wisely recommendations, a joint initiative between PSA and NPS MedicineWise, that was announced in December 2018. Pharmacists are recommended not to ‘promote or provide homeopathic products as there is no reliable evidence of efficacy. Where patients choose to access homeopathic treatments, health professionals should discuss the lack of benefit with patients.’

Dr Freeman said that several banner and/or buying groups for community pharmacies continue to include homeopathic products in their planograms, catalogues, specials, social media communications, and allocated stock ranges.

He cautioned that many patients may not be aware that there is no evidence to support the efficacy of homeopathic products to either prevent or treat conditions. It is possible that the public believes the contrary and that by making homeopathy available to patients, pharmacies could be seen as advocating for the products.

But by opting to use these products, patient health could be at risk, as it could mean they reject or delay treatments that do have evidence behind them.

https://www.australianpharmacist.com.au ... harmacies/

[Witness]

French healthcare system 'should not fund homeopathy'

Treatments should not be reimbursed until medical benefit is proven, experts say

French medical and drug experts say homeopathic medicines should no longer be paid for by the country’s health system because there is no evidence they work.

The conclusion in a joint report from the prestigious Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Pharmacy comes as the country’s centrist government considers halting the reimbursement of alternative health treatments.

The two academies also recommended stopping degrees in homeopathy from medical faculties.

In a joint statement, they declared “no homeopathic preparation should be reimbursed by Assurance Maladie [France’s health insurance] until the demonstration of sufficient medical benefit has been provided. No university degree in homeopathy should be issued by medical or pharmaceutical faculties.”

The academies said rigorous meta-analyses had not shown homeopathy’s effectiveness, but admitted it might have a placebo effect.
[…]
A survey by Odoxa in January showed 72% of French people believed homeopathy had benefits.

Gilles Bonnefond, president of one of the pharmacist unions, told RTL radio that stopping reimbursements would be a mistake. “Homeopathy is used by many French people,” he said. “When we’re dealing with patients, science isn’t the only rule.” [spoiler: $]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... are-system