UK: Fears over homeopathy regulation

[Sheri Nakken]

I certainly don't agree that remedies should say what they are 'used for'
as that is not how homeopathy works.

But here is Evan Harris again (speaks out all the time about MMR safety and
dissing Andrew Wakefield). He's a doctor (science spokesman???)

"And Dr Evan Harris, science spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said:
"It's wrong that this country's medicines regulatory arrangements are being
diluted and polluted by processes which allow ineffective products to be
licensed as medicines without having to provide any scientific evidence of
effectiveness."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5303080.stm

Fears over homeopathy regulation

Patients will be put at risk by a new regulatory system being brought in
for homeopathic medicine, critics say.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is
introducing a scheme to allow remedies to specifty the ailments that they
can be used for.

Current regulation is fragmented as it allows health benefit claims to be
made for products on the market before 1968, but not for those made later.

Critics said it gives official approval for products not clinically tested.
Under the voluntary scheme, called the National Rules Scheme, homeopathic
products will receive a licence if they can provide data proving the
treatments are safe - this will not need to be evidence from clinical
trials which other drugs have to have.

They will also be allowed to indicate what sort of symptoms they can
relieve, although this will be limited to minor ailments such as colds,
coughs and hay fever.

To make such a claim, the manufacturers need only show that the product has
been used to treat those particular conditions within the homeopathic
industry.

But critics have also been angered by suggestions the MHRA has been partly
motivated by a desire to boost the homeopathic industry.

In its consultation, the MHRA said failure to introduce the new system
would inhibit the industry's expansion.

Michael Baum, professor of surgery at University College London, said he
was perplexed by the new system as the MHRA was giving approval to products
that had not been rigorously tested.

"This will boost the homeopathic industry but will not benefit anyone else.
In fact, it could even put patients at risk.

"If someone suffers from a cough, it could be the first sign of lung cancer.

"However, if they use homeopathic medicine and the cough disappears it
means doctors are not being given a chance to diagnose the condition in the
early stages."

And Dr Evan Harris, science spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said:
"It's wrong that this country's medicines regulatory arrangements are being
diluted and polluted by processes which allow ineffective products to be
licensed as medicines without having to provide any scientific evidence of
effectiveness."

But the MHRA said its key motivations were "protecting consumers and
promoting choice" rather than boosting the industry.

Health claims

Homeopathic medicines on the market before 1968 were given Product Licences
of Right (PLR), which allowed them to make claims about health benefits.

But once the UK entered the EU in the 1970s this stalled new products
coming on to the market, because the nature of homeopathic medicines meant
there was not the clinical evidence to support licensing regulations.

A simplified version was brought in 1992, which allowed homeopathic
medicines to be licensed, but prevented them from making health claims.

Over 3,000 homeopathic medicines have licences, most of them PLRs.

Professor Kent Woods, chief executive of the MHRA, said: "This is a
significant step forward.

"Products authorised under the scheme will have to comply with recognised
standards of quality, safety and patient information."

Penny Viner, of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers, said:
"The provisions will both encourage growth in the range of products on the
market and enhance the consumer's understanding of their benefits."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/h ... 303080.stm

Published: 2006/08/31 22:53:00 GMT

© BBC MMVI
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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath
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