Alok Jha, science correspondent
The Guardian
Packaging on homeopathic products will be allowed to describe the illnesses they claim to be able to treat under a controversial licensing scheme introduced by the government today. The National Rules System is designed to bring homeopathic remedies into line with licensed medicines - but doctors and scientists say it will legitimise products that have no scientific evidence to support their claims.
Kent Woods, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the government agency responsible for licensing medicines and ensuring they are safe, said: "This is a significant step forward in the way homeopathic medicines are regulated. Products authorised will have to comply with recognised standards of quality, safety and patient information."
But Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, on the Commons science committee, said the rules "diluted and polluted" regulation of medicines.
"The multi-million pound homeopathy industry should not be allowed to make health claims for its products without proper evidence of effectiveness," he said.
Since 1971, medicines have required scientific data to show that they work to get a licence.
Because homeopathic products lacked this evidence, they were not allowed to be classed as medicines or allowed to put any claims on packaging about conditions they claimed to treat.
To get around this lack of evidence, the MHRA will license remedies based on "homeopathic provings", observations of the symptoms (such as watering eyes or headaches) a person gets when given a particular substance. Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London said: "This is like licensing a witches' brew as a medicine so long as the bat wings are sterile."
Penny Viner, of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers, said the scheme would encourage growth in the range of products on the market, and enhance the consumer's understanding of their benefits".
The Guardian
Packaging on homeopathic products will be allowed to describe the illnesses they claim to be able to treat under a controversial licensing scheme introduced by the government today. The National Rules System is designed to bring homeopathic remedies into line with licensed medicines - but doctors and scientists say it will legitimise products that have no scientific evidence to support their claims.
Kent Woods, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the government agency responsible for licensing medicines and ensuring they are safe, said: "This is a significant step forward in the way homeopathic medicines are regulated. Products authorised will have to comply with recognised standards of quality, safety and patient information."
But Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, on the Commons science committee, said the rules "diluted and polluted" regulation of medicines.
"The multi-million pound homeopathy industry should not be allowed to make health claims for its products without proper evidence of effectiveness," he said.
Since 1971, medicines have required scientific data to show that they work to get a licence.
Because homeopathic products lacked this evidence, they were not allowed to be classed as medicines or allowed to put any claims on packaging about conditions they claimed to treat.
To get around this lack of evidence, the MHRA will license remedies based on "homeopathic provings", observations of the symptoms (such as watering eyes or headaches) a person gets when given a particular substance. Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London said: "This is like licensing a witches' brew as a medicine so long as the bat wings are sterile."
Penny Viner, of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers, said the scheme would encourage growth in the range of products on the market, and enhance the consumer's understanding of their benefits".
Une nouvelle étape vient d'être franchie au Royaume Uni dans la vente légale des pseudo-médecines, sans le recours aux preuves scientifiques de leur efficacité. Cela ne risque pas d'encourager l'industrie pharmaceutique à faire des recherches coûteuses et des études cliniques longues et fastidieuses.
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