Homeopathy and intellectual honesty

EASAC, the European Academies' Science Advisory Council, which includes 27 European national academies of science, published a statement on homeopathy, entitled ‘Homeopathic products and practices: assessing the evidence and ensuring consistency in regulating medical claims in the EU’ in September 2017.[ ¹ ] Its purpose was to ‘to reinforce criticism of the health and scientific claims made for homeopathic products’, and to call for the implementation of ‘a standardised, knowledge-based regulatory framework’. The EASAC statement purports to have examined mechanisms of action, alleging that homeopathy is implausible and inconsistent with established scientific concepts; that there is no evidence of its effectiveness beyond placebo and that it may cause delay in patients, including veterinary patients, receiving evidence-based treatment.

• References

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