[Homeopathy--time for official authorization?].

Abstract

The Norwegian government has recently appointed a committee to scrutinise alternative therapies and distinguish between serious and nonserious practitioners in preparation for future authorisation. Homoeopathy seems to be the most popular of alternative therapies in Norway, and counts Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland among contented patients. For this reason we have taken a closer look at the principles of homoeopathy, and the documentation. Just as in a recent report on documentation and the effect of selected alternative therapies, we too were unable to find studies of reasonable quality that were confirmed by others. Homoeopathists use theoretical physics to explain how water "remembers" the information from molecules no longer existing in the solution, when the liquid is shaken in a special way between every dilution. It does not matter whether the homoeopathist is serious or not as long as the remedy consists only of pure water. We conclude, therefore, that homoeopathy should not be authorised as a serious medical treatment in the Norwegian Health Service.