Following the debate: homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine in the news

The public debate on homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine continues. In this, our regular round-up, we provide links to and background on some items of relevance to our sector that have been in the news recently. The overall impression is that the increasing good news about homeopathy, and the growing professionalism of the sector are met by ever stronger resistance.

• Following the widely reported decision in March by the University of Barcelona to cancel its Masters course on homeopathic medicine, the Homeopathic Medical Academy of Barcelona  has announced that it will continue to offer the two year course from October this year. The programme and teaching staff will remain the same as in previous years.
• In August, the Australian Homeopathic Association, Complementary Medicines Australia and the Australian Traditional Medicine Association made a combined formal submission of complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman regarding the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) report into homoeopathy, arguing that its findings and conclusions were distorted by bias, conflicts of interest, methodological flaws and procedural irregularities.
• In August, a statement by Josef Hecken, chairman of the German committee that governs what public health insurance can cover, generated coverage in the German media and even in the worldwide publication The Economist, when he said he favours banning homeopathy from the list. Both the Federal Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI) and the Federal Association of Medicines Manufacturers (BAH) issued statements confirming their continued support for reimbursement of homeopathic medicines to ensure choice for patients of these popular therapies.

• Hälsa magazine in Sweden gave five pages of coverage to the scientific debate about homeopathy, following the event organised and hosted by ECHAMP in Stockholm in April 2016; it reported on the opinions of a range of scientists, including Rachel Roberts, Homeopathy Research Institute, Petter Viksveen, University of Sheffield, Jan Bruhn, retired Professor of Pharmacognosy and Carl-Olav Stiller, Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacology and Chief Physician at Karolinska University Hospital. The article gives a balanced view on the scientific debate.
• In Italy on 29 September, the Senate of the Italian Republic hosted a comprehensive presentation of diverse directions in complementary medicine, including homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine; in addition to a strong communication to the media, the stakeholders involved called on the Italian regulators to implement rules and standards on best practice of comlementary medicine.

•  In the meantime, the battle against homeopathy in the UK continues: under pressure from sceptics, both Wirral and Liverpool NHS Clinical Commissioning Group have ended funding for homeopathy; the Charity Commission, which regulates not for profit organisations in the UK, has been threatened by The Good Thinking Society with legal action if it does not remove charities that promote homeopathy from its register; and about 1000 vets have signed a petition calling on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to stop vets offering homeopathy.

• Across the Atlantic, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took industry by surprise at the end of September, by issuing a warning to consumers that homeopathic teething tablets and gels may pose a risk to infants and children and that it is conducting an investigation following reports of adverse events; this FDA alert been widely picked up by the media in the US, with further media reports indicating a link to child deaths; however no causal link has been demonstrated and no data yet released; Hylands, which supplies these products, confirms its confidence its products are safe to use, but has responded by withdrawing its products from the market.  By contrast, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has stepped in to confirm that homeopathic teething products licensed in the UK are safe, and this is reported in The Pharmaceutical Journal. Health Canada has also issued a statement confirming there are no safety concerns for the products in Canada and Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland also confirms the safety of licensed products.
• With ironic timing, on 23 October, homeopathy sceptics in a number of cities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia highlighted the safety of homeopathic medicines by staging a mass "overdose" of homeopathic remedies in a bid to prove they have no effect; their demonstration, reported on local radio, was modelled on similiar events in other countries, denounced by the British Homeopathic Association as 'grossly irresponsible'.