Boiron Laboratories Disputes British Journal's Editorial on Homeopathy

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In its continued educational and research efforts for the advancement of homeopathy, Boiron Laboratories disputes an editorial comment published in The Lancet's Nov. 17, 2007 issue on the basis that its author has misinterpreted results of meta-analyses on homeopathic medicines. (1-5)

The British medical journal features an editorial by Ben Goldacre on the "Benefits and Risks of Homeopathy." In his commentary, Goldacre suggests that the results from five large meta-analyses indicate that homeopathy produces no statistically significant benefit over placebo.

However, a thorough review of the studies' research evidence indicates positive principle conclusions in favor of homeopathy over placebo as quoted as follows:

    1. The Kleijnen, et al(1) study states that "the evidence of clinical
       trials is positive but not sufficient to draw any definite
       conclusions."
    2. The Boissel, et al(2) study reports that "[f]or 17 retained
       comparisons, for each method used, the result is a p-value well below
       .0001. This means that in at least one test, the null hypothesis (lack
       of effect of homeopathy) must be rejected. ...  The number of
       significant results is not likely due to chance alone."
    3. The Linde, et al(3) study concludes that "[t]he results of the
       available randomized trials suggest that individualized homeopathy has
       an effect over placebo."
    4. The Cucherat, et al(4) study concludes that "[t]here is evidence that
       homeopathic treatments are more effective than placebo."
    5. The Shang, et al(5) study indicates that "21 (19 percent) homeopathic
       trials and nine (8 percent) conventional medicine tests were of higher
       quality. In both groups, smaller trials and those of lower quality
       showed more beneficial treatment effects than larger and higher-quality
       trials. When the analysis was restricted to large trials of higher
       quality, the odds ratio was 0.88 (95 percent CI 0.65-1.19) for
       homeopathy (eight trials) and 0.58 (0.39-0.85) for conventional
       medicine (six trials).

Additionally, there is a sixth relevant meta-analysis(6) also published in The Lancet that supports positive results for homeopathy, but was not mentioned in Goldacre's commentary. The study authors concluded that "the results of our meta-analysis are not compatible with the hypothesis that the clinical effects of homeopathy are completely due to a placebo effect."

About Boiron: Boiron, world leader in homeopathy, is a $500 million public company with 3,800 employees in more than 60 countries. It produces more than 1,500 homeopathic medicines. For over 70 years, Boiron has been committed to funding scientific research and educating the public and healthcare professionals on homeopathic medicines. Boiron maintains the highest manufacturing standards, complying with U.S. Food and Drug Administration

regulations, the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States and drug Good Manufacturing Practices.

References 1. Kleijnen J, Knipschild P, ter Riet G. Clinical trials of homeopathy. BMJ 1991; 302: 316-23. 2. Boissel JP, Cucherat M, Haugh M, Gauthier E. Critical literature review on the effectiveness of homoeopathy: overview of data from homeopathic medicine trials. Brussels, Belgium: Homoeopathic Medicine Research Group. Report to the European Commission. 1996; 195-210. 3. Linde K, Melchart D. Randomized controlled trials of individualized homeopathy: a state-of-the-art review. J Alter Complement Med 1998; 4: 371-88. 4. Cucherat M, Haugh MC, Gooch M, Boissel JP. Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy: a meta-analysis of clinical trials. Eur JClin Pharmacol 2000; 56: 27-33. 5. Shang A, Huwiler-Muntener K, Nartey L, et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy and allopathy. The Lancet 2005; 366: 726-32. 6. Linde K, Clausius N, Ramirez H, et al. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials. The Lancet 1997; 350: 834-43. Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Ronald Boyer, M.D. http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=58078 Christophe Merville http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=56842