Homeopaths agree to dilute their claims

Keith Garratt finds the NZ Homeopathic Society is capable of change.

On 2 October 2013, I received this email:

Dear Keith,

We acknowledge receipt of your letter 16th September 2013. The changes you suggested have been activated.

Regards, Den Illing, Co-ordinator, NZ Homoeopathic Society

This brief and apparently innocuous message was for me a satisfying culmination of a long saga. In early 2012, I noticed that on the Frequently Asked Questions page of its website, under the heading "What Can Homeopathy Treat?", the New Zealand Homoeopathic Society made the following statement:

"Homoeopathic medicine can effectively treat a wide array of health problems, both acute and chronic. The following are just some of the conditions for which homoeopathy has proven particularly effective according to the British Government National Health Service (NHS):

Mental-Emotional problems

Anxiety states: attention deficit disorder; hyperactivity; after effects of stress, grief, bereavement; depression; panic attacks; fears;

Sleeping problems: Nightmares, insomnia; poor concentration and memory loss; fatigue; neuroses; obsessional disorders; anorexia and bulimia nervosa; psychosomatic problems; post traumatic stress.

Womens' Health

Hormonal related disorders: Premenstrual tension (PMT), menopause, painful periods, excessive period bleeding; vaginitis; candidiasis; infertility

Pregnancy: Mastitis, labour injuries and wounds, morning sickness (nausea), lack of breast milk, post-natal depression.

Joint - Musculo-skeletal Rheumatism; polyarthritis; osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis; gout; repetitive strain injury; sports trauma.

Dermatology

Most skin problems respond well to homoeopathic treatment: Eczema, psoriasis, urticaria

Infections: Bacterial and fungal - herpes simplex and zoster, nappy rash, impetigo, pruritis.

Children's health

Both mental and physical well being problems are treated including: Behavioural disorders, social dysfunctional problems, recurrent acute illnesses; recurrent otitis media (ear infection); recurrent sore throats and tonsillitis; teething; colic; croup; bronchitis; enuresis; atopic eczema and other skin problems; asthma; bedwetting.

General

Chronic and recurrent illness: Recurrent Tonsillitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Gastritis, Colitis, Hay Fever, Headaches, Migraines, Thyroid disorders, Sinusitis, Allergies and allergic syndromes. ME, Post Viral Syndrome, MS. Addiction: alcohol, drugs, withdrawal.

Travel sickness

This got my attention because of the serious nature of some of the conditions listed and the reference to the British NHS. I also found it interesting that this section came shortly after an explanation of the 'like treats like' principle of homeopathy. I really struggled to imagine how the 'like treats like' principle could be applied to many of the conditions listed.

I asked the society to provide references for NHS reports on the effectiveness of homeopathy for any of these conditions, and to authoritative peer-reviewed research on the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment for them. I had no response.

I also made an online search. At that stage, the NHS website had little to say about homeopathy, and I could find no confirmation that the NHS found it to be homeopathy "particularly effective" for any of the listed conditions. An enquiry to the UK Department of Health elicited the following somewhat disturbing statements:

"For your information, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee carried out an examination of the evidence to support the provision of homeopathy on the NHS. The Committee's report was published on 22 February 2010. The Department considered its findings and recommendations and published a full response.

"The Department of Health will not be withdrawing funding for homeopathy on the NHS, nor will the licensing of homeopathic products be stopped. Decisions on the provision and funding of any treatment will remain the responsibility of the NHS locally."

The committee's report can be seen at www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/45/4502.htm

The next step was to lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority. In due course, I was notified that my complaint would not be put to the full board because the society's website is not an advertisement. This prompted me to lodge an appeal in which I laid out my concern in greater detail. I included this comment about the decision:

"This seems to be at odds with your own Code of Practice at page 16, where it states:

"The word 'advertisment' is to be taken in its broadest sense to embrace any form of advertising and includes advertising which promotes the interest of any person, product or service, imparts information, educates, or advocates an idea, belief, political viewpoint, or opportunity. The definition includes advertising in all traditional media and digital media such as online advertising, including websites."

My complaint and appeal was then referred to the full ASA board, which in August 2012 ruled in a split decision that the website was outside its jurisdiction.

More recently, I discovered that the NHS website has changed, and now has much more specific comment about homeopathy. This prompted me to write the following letter to the NZ Homeopathic Society on 26 September:

On the Frequently Asked Questions page of your website under the heading "What can homoeopathy treat?" there is the following statement:

"Homoeopathic medicine can effectively treat a wide array of health problems, both acute and chronic. The following are just some of the conditions for which homoeopathy has proven particularly effective according to the British Government National Health Service (NHS)."

This is followed by a list of some 75 conditions, including many serious illnesses.

This statement and the list appear to be completely at odds with the NHS website at www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/Pages/Introduction.aspx#when-used.

The NHS website includes the following:

"A 2010 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report on homeopathy said that homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebos, and that the principles on which homeopathy is based are 'scientifically implausible'. This is also the view of the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies." and "There has been extensive investigation of the effectiveness of homeopathy. There is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition."

I find it very surprising that your claim regarding the NHS still appears on your site, as it appears that it has no basis in fact, and is actually in complete contradiction of the NHS information. Given that many of the conditions listed are very serious and that sufferers may be desperate to find a treatment of proven efficacy, I believe that it is very unethical for a supposedly professional organisation to include this misleading and apparently false information. Given the apparent falsity of this claim, it gives no confidence that other claims on the site regarding the efficacy of homeopathy are any more credible.

Can I suggest that the statement quoting the NHS is removed from your website.

I had no real expectation of a positive result and was planning my next moves. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to receive the message from the society that I quoted in the opening paragraph of this article. It is pleasing that the NZ Homoeopathic Society has recognised the need to at least move some way to moderating its more extreme claims.