British MPs say homeopathy is not effective

I / London February 23, 2010, 13:40 IST

A committee of the House of Commons has raised the hackles of followers of homeopathy by stating that the British government should stop funding it because the system of medicine, according to MPs, is ineffective.

The Science and Technology Committee said there was a lack of proof that homeopathic drugs are any more effective than a placebo.

It added that there was no scientific evidence that homeopathic remedies work.

"There has been enough testing of homeopathy and plenty of evidence showing it is not efficacious," the committee said.

Committee members also said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should not allow homeopathic medicines to carry medical claims on their labels.

"We regret that advocates of homeopathy, including in their submissions to our inquiry, choose to rely on, and promulgate, selective approaches to the treatment of the evidence base as this risks confusing or misleading the public, the media and policy-makers," the committee's report said.

"The systematic reviews and meta-analyses conclusively demonstrate that homeopathic products perform no better than placebos," it added.

There are four homeopathic hospitals in the UK: in Glasgow, London, Bristol and Liverpool.

The National Health Service spends 4 million pounds a year on these hospitals.

The Society of Homeopaths "roundly rejected" the findings and claimed it applied to give oral evidence before the committee, but was refused.

It also claimed no patients or health trusts using homeopathy had been called by the committee.

The committee's report recommending that the NHS should not fund homeopathic treatments comes after a study published in January 2008 showed more than a quarter of primary care trusts had stopped or reduced funding over the previous two years for homeopathic therapies.

A group of UK scientists wrote to NHS in 2006 recommending they reject funding for "unproven or disproved treatments".

High-profile supporters of homeopathic medicine include Prince Charles.