Medicines for Human Use (National Rules for Homeopathic Products) Regulations 2006

My Lords, patients tend to use complementary medicine as a supplement to orthodox medicine. There is less emphasis on symptoms and the treatment is usually highly individualised. Whether the treatment is herbal, essential oils, acupuncture or homeopathic, it will be influenced by the patient’s personality and lifestyle as much as by the problem that is presented. Given the massively high levels of iatrogenic disease and morbidity from orthodox treatments, I am astonished that the noble Lord, Lord Taverne, can dismiss homeopathy in such a frivolous manner. He and my noble friend Lord Jenkin imply that homeopathy can be harmful. I sat on the Select Committee to which the noble Lord referred and although I do not have the papers in front of me, I believe we felt that as homeopathic medicines were basically water, they could not be harmful. Each year in the UK, about 850,000 adverse effects are caused by orthodox medical treatment. I am sorry to say that 120,000 of these are deaths. How can the use of homeopathy compare with this? Where is the logic of dismissing treatment by a homeopathic product which has never directly caused a death and, when analysed, is shown to contain no active ingredient? Is it not unscientific to abandon treatments that are valued and desired by patients or to dismiss treatments that a particular lobby just does not like? To say that homeopathy is not evidence-based is completely untrue. Despite chronic underfunding, a substantial body of evidence exists to prove the effectiveness of homeopathy. Now is not the time to list them. The noble Countess, Lady Mar, mentioned some and the evidence is available. I went on a course about 15 years ago on the relationship between quantum physics and homeopathy. I probably did not understand a word I was told at the time, but at least there was evidence that the two were linked. If homeopathic treatments are harmful, why is there almost total absence of any negligence claims to prove the point? Any case against homeopathy must rest on the argument that the most innocuous of practices may be harmful if they prevent the patient from seeking other more appropriate treatment. Despite the persistence of this line of attack and the anecdotal stories we have heard today, there is no firm evidence to support it. The homeopathic approach helps patients for whom conventional treatment has been unsuccessful or has unacceptable side effects. It is interesting to consider why homeopathy, which of all complementary therapies is probably at most variance with orthodox medicine, should have received sufficient support from the Government to be able to maintain a number of specialised hospitals. The new regulations clear up an anomaly and bring the UK into line with other countries and the 2005 legislation on the traditional use of herbal medicines which allows a herbal product with 30 years’ traditional use to include indications based on information obtained from its long-standing use and experience. Companies will now be encouraged to register new homeopathic medicines, with the option of reregistering certain existing products, and will be allowed to include information about the treatment and relief of minor, self-limiting conditions based on the use of the product within the homeopathic tradition. The legislation will benefit the ever-growing number of users of homeopathic medicine, and its provisions will encourage growth in the range of products in the market and enhance the consumer’s understanding of their benefits. Homeopathic medicines have been used for more than 200 years and there is wide evidence to support their use and effectiveness, placebo effect or not—and I have no problem with the placebo effect. They are safe and have never killed anyone, unlike many newly developed drugs for which strict testing is justifiably required. I must resist the Prayer.