Homeopathic remedies work no better than placebos, and so should no longer be paid for by the UK National 91色情片 Service, a committee of British members of parliament has concluded.
The House of Commons , which released its on Monday, also urges governments in other European countries where homeopathy is popular 鈥� notably Germany, France and Austria 鈥� to be equally wary of funding homeopathy. 鈥淲e feel there鈥檚 a real message, not just in the UK,鈥� says committee chairman and Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis.
In preparing its report, the committee, which scrutinises the evidence behind government policies, took evidence from scientists and homeopaths, and reviewed numerous reports and scientific investigations into homeopathy. It found no evidence that such treatments work beyond providing a placebo effect.
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Placebo deception
鈥淲e conclude that placebos should not be routinely prescribed on the National 91色情片 Service,鈥� the report says. It also says homeopathic hospitals should not be funded by the NHS, and NHS doctors should not refer patients to homeopaths. Currently the NHS funds four homeopathic hospitals.
The committee also says that prescribing of placebos, which have an effect because a patient believes they will, involves a 鈥渄egree of patient deception鈥� and so is 鈥渘ot consistent with informed patient choice鈥�.
The committee is also critical of the Medicines and 91色情片care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and its practice of licensing homeopathic treatments. This gives the incorrect impression that the evidence of efficacy for homeopathic remedies is as strong as for conventional medicines, the report says.
The committee rejected the MHRA鈥檚 justification for licensing homeopathic remedies 鈥� that there is an 鈥渋mportant homeopathic tradition鈥� to uphold. 鈥淲itchcraft is traditional, so does that mean the MHRA should endorse that too?鈥� Willis asks.
Sugar pills
Homeopathic medicines are diluted so much that it is extremely unlikely that any active component can possibly be left in the solution. The committee failed to identify any plausible explanation for how such remedies might work.
The MPs鈥� report also criticises the labelling on homeopathic products, which it says fails to inform the public that homeopathic products are 鈥渟ugar pills containing no active ingredients鈥�.
The report draws attention to homeopathic remedies derived from body parts such as hip joints and colons, animals such as iguanas and dragonflies, and even products exposed to different kinds of sunlight. In the case of remedies derived from fragments of archaeological monuments such as the Great Wall of China and Stonehenge, they point out that it is hard to understand how even homeopathy鈥檚 own principle of 鈥渓ike cures like鈥� could apply.
Unknown costs
The MPs say there seems to be no reliable record of how much the NHS spends on homeopathic treatments. While Mike O鈥橞rien, the minister responsible for the NHS, told the committee that the NHS spends 拢150,000 a year on homeopathic remedies, the UK-based Society of Homeopaths said that the NHS spends 拢4 million annually. This does not include the running costs of the homeopathic hospitals and the 拢20 million spent on between 2002 and 2005.
Edzard Ernst of the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, Devon, UK, a long-standing critic of homeopathic medicine, says the MPs鈥� report should be noted in other countries where homeopathy is widely practised but not subjected to serious critical scrutiny. 鈥淭he evidence is negative, and it鈥檚 internationally negative, because there鈥檚 no difference between countries in terms of evidence,鈥� he says.
In a dig at the Prince of Wales, who is an ardent supporter of homeopathic medicine in the UK, Ernst says: 鈥淓ither we are governed by evidence and science, or by Prince Charles.鈥�
, which backs complementary therapies, including homeopathy, acknowledges that homeopathy is 鈥渟cientifically implausible鈥�, but defends the use of such remedies nonetheless.
鈥淔or patients suffering from long term disease, where no scientific, evidence based medicine can offer effective treatment, it does not matter how it works,鈥� says the foundation, in a . 鈥淲hat matters to them is whether they get better, whether pain and other symptoms are alleviated.鈥�
Michael Dixon, medical director of the foundation adds: 鈥淪cience is a vital tool in healthcare, but so are compassion and caring and treating patients with dignity. It is not clear that the Committee took that into account.鈥�
