Can homeopathic medicines help with COVID and other infections, or is this more “disinformation”? Action Alert!
Late last year, the FDA issued a statement regarding cold medicines for children, including homeopathic products. Notably, the agency stated: “The FDA is not aware of any proven benefits of [homeopathic] products and urges you not to give homeopathic cough and cold medicine to children younger than 4.” This is in line with a recent guidance from the FDA putting forth an interpretation that all homeopathic products currently on the market are technically illegal. If we want to ensure that we can continue to access homeopathic medicines, we must encourage lawmakers to get involved and stand up for our right to choose.
It is a common refrain in conventional medical circles that homeopathy doesn’t work. This is simply false, and is likely due to the fact that, even though homeopathy is hundreds of years old, we’re still not certain how exactly it works, but there are some theories. Yet there is lots of evidence to show that homeopathy is efficacious, not to mention overwhelmingly safe.
For now, we will stick to upper respiratory infections, including COVID:
- One study found that homeopathic syrup effectively reduced cough severity and was thus a valid remedy for the management of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).
- A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of children with URTI found that children treated with homeopathic remedies showed 18 percent less daily symptoms than those given a placebo; the homeopathic group also used fewer antibiotics than the placebo group.
- Another study concluded that homeopathic formulations in URTI are likely effective and may help particularly when antibiotics are not indicated.
- A case study of five patients showed that homeopathy could successfully treat moderate to severe COVID.
- An observational study looking at 211 COVID cases concluded that homeopathic medicines improved symptoms.
- Another paper concluded that “Data contributes to use in homeopathic interventions during the COVID-19 epidemic as a health promotion and treatment strategy that can be used as an adjunct to all sanitary and therapeutic measures recommended by health authorities.”
This and other evidence has led health officials in both India and Mexico to support the use of homeopathy for COVID-19.
You’ll never hear about this from our federal government. The FDA, acting as gatekeeper, uses the outrageously expensive drug approval process to shut out any medicines that cannot be strongly patented and make drug companies billions of dollars. But if we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it is that this approach caused needless death and suffering because we did not adopt an “all of the above” approach. As people were dying, the federal government was busy firing off warning letters to doctors and clinics talking about how to use natural medicines, including homeopathy, to stay healthy during the pandemic.
The fact that homeopathy is completely safe is of little concern to federal agencies. A review of the evidence of adverse events related to homeopathy, which included data from 12 European countries, the US, Mexico, India, Israel and Brazil published between 1978 and 2010, found a total of just 1,159 adverse events. This equates to an average of just over 50 cases per annum across all 17 countries from which studies were conducted. Worldwide, an estimated 200 million people use homeopathy regularly, including 6 million in the United States. These data show that adverse events from homeopathic medicines occur at a very, very low rate.
With homeopathy being so safe, and with evidence to suggest it can help with the symptoms of URTI, including COVID, why dissuade people from using these medicines—especially in mild or moderate cases?
Given this safety record, cronyism is, in our view, the only adequate explanation of the FDA’s continued attacks on homeopathy. It is another example of government health bureaucrats looking out for industry’s bottom line rather than the health of consumers, and it must stop.
Action Alert! Fill out the form below to write to the FDA and Congress, calling on the agency to stop the attack on homeopathy. Please send your message immediately.
