The coalition Government ignored scientific advice on the questionable value of homeopathy by continuing to allow the NHS to fund homeopathic treatment despite there being next to no evidence that it works.
Last week, health ministers refused calls from the House of Commons science and technology committee to stop the NHS funding homeopathic treatment on the grounds that such a ban would limit patient choice and contradict the Government’s stated aim of devolving more power to the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) of the NHS.

However, the Government’s own chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, said that he had spoken informally to coalition ministers about his grave concerns about homeopathy and the Department of Health’s policy of allowing it to be prescribed under the NHS.

“I remain of the view that the evidence of efficacy and the scientific evidence base of homeopathy is highly questionable. It is vitally important that the public can make informed choices on their use of homeopathy, so the evidence base must be freely available in an easily-accessible format,” Sir John said.

The Government does not know how many PCTs prescribe homeopathic treatment or how much it costs but the total annual funding is believed to run into millions of pounds.

Earlier this year, the Commons’ science committee recommended that the NHS should stop funding homeopathy on the grounds that it is a waste of money and it gives patients the false impression that such treatment works.

“When the NHS funds homeopathy, it endorses it. Since the NHS Constitution explicitly gives people the right to expect that decision on the funding of drugs and treatments are made ‘following proper consideration of the evidence’, patients may reasonably form the view that homeopathy is an evidence-based treatment,” the select committee’s report said.

In its response to the report, the Government said that it will keep the position on NHS funding under review. “However, we believe that providing appropriate information for patients should ensure that they form their own views regarding homeopathy as an evidence-based treatment,” it said.

Scientists point out, however, that if patients are told clearly that there is no credible evidence to support homeopathic treatments, this may undermine the only benefit that homeopathy is likely to provide, namely the well-established “placebo effect” where someone feels and gets better because they believe a treatment is working.

“Doctors are not allowed to prescribe an honest placebo, even if they think that is the best they can do for the patient. But they are allowed to prescribe a dishonest placebo by referring the patient to a homeopath,” said Professor David Colquhoun, a pharmacologist at University College London.

“Certainly you may feel better after the pill, because you were getting better anyway, or because of the placebo effect. That can’t justify your doctor giving a pill that contains nothing whatsoever,” Professor Colquhoun said.

“If there is no evidence that homeopathy works beyond the placebo effect, why does the Government pay for it? The answer given to that is ‘patient choice’. I dare say the patient would cheer up if the NHS paid for a bottle of Chanel No 5,” he said.

Professor Edzard Ernst, a specialist in complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, said: “If the Government is serious about putting patient choice over evidence, it not only displays a profound misunderstanding of both these issues but should then also give cream cakes to diabetics and cigarettes to someone with a lung disease.”

Evan Harris, a former Liberal Democrat MP who sat on the science select committee when it carried out its inquiry, said that the decision to continue NHS funding homeopathy by the Government is not a good start for the health secretary Andrew Lansley.

“How does the Government justify allowing treatments that do not work to be provided by the NHS in the name of choice, when it allows medicines which do work to be banned from NHS use?” Dr Harris said.

From:  http://www.independent.co.uk/government-ignored-our-advice-on-homeopathic-remedies-say-experts

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee said using public money on the highly-diluted homeopathy remedies could not be justified.
The cross-party group said there was no evidence beyond a placebo effect, when a patient gets better because of their belief that the treatment works.

But manufacturers and supporters of homeopathy disputed the report, saying the MPs had ignored important evidence.

It is thought about £4m a year is spent on homeopathy by the NHS, helping to fund four homeopathic hospitals in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow and numerous prescriptions.

Homeopathy is a 200-year-old system of treatment that uses highly diluted substances – sometimes so none of the original product is left – that are given orally in the belief that it will stimulate the body’s self-healing mechanism.

Supporters believe the remedies help relieve a range of minor ailments from bruising and swelling to constipation and insomnia.

But the MPs said homeopathy was basically sugar pills that only worked because of faith. In medicine it is recognised that some people will get better because they believe the treatment they take is going to work.

The MPs said the NHS should not fund treatments on this basis. They argued the effectiveness was often unpredictable and involved a deception by the medical establishment.

They also warned it could lead to a delay in diagnosis if symptoms were cured but the underlying reason for them was not tackled.

The MPs also criticised the drugs regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, for allowing medical claims to be made.

The bar for licensing for homeopathic remedies is not set as high as for medical treatments, partly because they have been used since the NHS was set up in 1948 before the current system of regulation was brought in.

Committee chairman Phil Willis said this approval and the fact they were funded by the NHS in the first place lent the remedies “a badge of authority that is unjustified”.

But the report acknowledged there was a public appetite for homeopathy with surveys showing satisfaction rates of above 70%.

The British Medical Association said it was concerned about NHS funds being used on homeopathy and called for an official review into its effectiveness.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8524926.stm