Compiled by Monica Miller, NCH Media Coordinator

“In the News” is a feature of NCH’s web site that tracks global news stories about homeopathy and is updated daily.

Note: There is no doubts that in millions of people’s mind homeopathy works. Homeopathy is practiced all over the world as a fast, highly effective and affordable method of health care. Even the World Health Organization says that “if integrated with modern medicine, Homeopathy will provide adequate health care across the globe in the future.” (Kaul report of 1996)
Many people ask me “If homeopathy is so great why isn’t it more popular?”

There are many answers to this question.

1: Lack of insurance reimbursement. That’s a major source of complain for a lot of people. Essentially the people who visit me are people who have had many disappointments with medicine, many people come because of a lack of results for their condition others just want to lower or get off their medication because they can’t live with the side effects or are concerned about the toxicity of their medication.

2: Every time you turn on the your TV you will most likely hear about new and promising “discoveries” from medicine. This constant advertisement in the cloak of news is a very powerful tool mold our beliefs.

3: Homeopathy has a reputation of being slow. Nothing could be further from the truth than that. What we achieve with tiny homeopathic remedies is nothing short, at times, of miraculous. Not only a disease is lifted from a person but in addition an astounding level of freedom on all levels is gained. That’s wonderful!

These are a few answer to the most frequently asked question. There are many other answers. I encourage you to take the matters of YOUR health into your own hands. Regardless of what you choose, you will be far better from it.
Pierre Fontaine, homeopathicservices.com


The Edmonton Sun
Rock will move to regulate natural health products
March 26,1999
“Health Minister Allan Rock will announce today he’s setting up a new $7-million Office for Natural Health Products (that) will be responsible for conducting research, designing regulations and the licensing of traditional herbal medicines, Chinese East Indian and native American medicines, homeopathic products and mineral supplements. The move comes on the heels of a Commons committee report last fall calling on the government to take immediate action to regulate the sale of natural health care products which have grown to an estimated $2 billion a year in Canada”.

Newsweek
Another Road to Good Health
by Stephen Williams, special issue on sale until May 31
“...Some recent clinical trials have suggested that these medicines might help with conditions such as allergic rhinitis, fibrositis and even the flu. However, many scientists reject the theory behind homeopathic medicine because they contend that the dilutions are so extreme that they could not possibly have any effect on the body”. (X,H)

Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Cuban Health System
Impresses UW Group; Lack of Resources Overcome
by Gwen Carleton, March 20,1999
“The 26 UW (University of Wisconsin) health care students who traveled to Cuba last week knew to expect sunshine, poverty and civic pride. They knew, for example, that Cuba’s 7 percent infant mortality rate and its average lifespan of 77 years are identical to those in the United States. They also knew that Cuba’s leading causes of death are the same as those in the United States-heart disease, cancer and stroke and that the island’s rates of teen pregnancy and domestic violence are much lower. But once in Cuba, the group learned more about how the country has achieved such goals, despite a daunting set of political and economic obstacles-the Cuban medical school curriculum, includes instruction in herbs, homeopathy and other green’ therapies”.

Newsweek
What I Saw
by George Stephanopoulos
March 15, 1999
After colleague Vince Foster’s death, symptoms of depression and burnout affect President Clinton’s spokesperson:

“Health - care reform’s slow death in 1994 was particularly disheartening. We fought hard, but were losing. Hillary tried to keep our spirits up. Seeing that I was fluey from fatigue, she sent me a carton of homeopathic cures one day accompanied by a note: “We need you healthy for health care!

The Toronto Sun
Canucks making health switch
to alternative medicine
by Sharon Lem, March 12, 1999
“Nearly three-quarters of Canadians use alternative medicine-a practice that is expected to grow, a Canadian think-tank says. According to a study released by B.C.’S. Fraser Institute, an average of 73% of Canadians have used alternative therapies and they are spending $3.8 billion a year using them. There is a growing shift with more people using alternative therapies, but it is more for wellness and not as a substitute of a doctor’,, said Cynthia Ramsay, the study’s co-author. Alternative medicine includes chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, herbal remedies and homeopathy”.

National Post (formerly The Financial Post)
Daring thought: Ideas collide on campus
by David S. Oderberg, March 8, 1999
“Mr. Moran’s documentation of the extent of silencing and suppression in academia is impressive. Unfortunately, however, he misses the opportunity to mention other cases of scholars whose views, however challenging or unpleasant to some, have led to outrageous censorship and professional retaliation. He might have mentioned Prof. Benveniste, whose research supported the efficacy of homeopathy, and who had his career flattened by the magician James Randi in collusion with the former editor of Nature. (See Randi get debunked himself below).

Science
Dr. Quinn Counsels the House
Vol 283, March 5, 1999
“She is a special fan of homeopathy, which treats ills with minuscule doses of substances that ordinarily cause the same symptoms. This hair-of-the-dog approach has been ridiculed by many scientists, who say the active ingredients are so diluted that they are often nonexistent. But members of the Committee on Government Reform listened raptly as Seymour claimed, among other things, that homeopathy can cure acne within 4 days ‘.... most were with Connie Morella

In the News... (R-MD), who gushed that Seymour is a ‘role model... so what you have to say has a tremendous effect on public attitudes.”

New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Historical Relic or Load of Crap-You Make the Call; The Amazing Randi claimed the Miami Circle site was actually a septic tank, no an archaeological find. He is having second thoughts
by Paul Demko, March 4, 1999
“James Randi, a.k.a. the Amazing Randi, has made a career out of debunking purportedly fantastical events... The potions and practices Randi has investigated over the years include paranormal activities, homeopathic medicines, massage therapy, dowsing. Now the 70-year-old Randi has plunged himself into another contentious subject: the purported Tequesta Indian site known as the Miami Circle... As the media maelstrom and political pandering over the archaeological site next to the Miami River reached a peak, Randi sent out a missive via e-mail to his 9000 online subscribers questioning the authenticity of the findings. In this latest crusade, however, the Amazing Randi seems to have forgotten one crucial element of the scientific method himself: evidence.

“The famed skeptic has not visited the archaeological site. Nor did he talk with the scientists involved before sending out his e-mail bulletin. He lampoons the archeologists for suggesting that the site has ties to the Maya civilization and that it’s some type of celestial calendar, even though the archaeologists never made such claims. Randi also says that artifacts found at the site are most likely half a century old, ignoring significant evidence to the contrary. He just does not have all of the facts, says Robert Carr, the archaeologist leading the excavation. I realize that part of what he does is debunk things, but it would have been good for him to have physically gone down there and seen it and talked to people.

Chemical Business Newsbase
Journal of the European Communities C-Resolution of the Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directives 92/73/EEC and 92/74/EEC on homeopathic medicinal products
March 1, 1999
“The comments of the European Parliament on the position of homeopathic medicines in European legislation are summarized. In the EU,1% of turnover of the pharmaceutical industry comes from such medicines. Directive 92/73/EEC widened the scope of Directive 65/65/EEC, 75/319/EEC and 81/851/EEC to include homeopathic medicines. By 31 Dec 1995, a report should have been made to the Parliament and Council regarding the transposition and application of Directives 92/73/EEC and 92/74/EEC by Member States, but this has not yet been received. The Commission is urged to present proposals to Parliament for amendment of these Directives. It is called on to give homeopathic antroposophic medicines the same status as homeopathic medicines under Article 1 of Directive 92/73/EEC.

Natural Health
Research Notes
by Katherine Gallia, March 1999
“...If your drug of choice for arthritis pain is Tylenol, consider this. According to a recent study in The American Journal of Pain Management, 55 percent of osteoarthritis patients enjoyed significant pain reduction after taking the homeopathic preparation Rheumatism, while only 38 percent of patients taking over the-counter medicines containing acetaminophen (such as Tylenol or Aspirin -Free Excedrin) did. Even better, the homeopathic remedy, researchers say, does not have any of acetaminophen’s potentially serious side effects like liver and kidney damage or peptic ulcers”.

California Monthly
A Conversation with Dana Ullman
by Russell Schoch, February 1999
This is an interview on the subject of homeopathy with excellent range and depth. The conversation touches on science, history, method, and delves into the underlying issues wherein homeopathic theory meets and complements conventional wisdom.


CNN World Report
Critics Warn Ritalin is Over prescribed as Treatment for ADHD
by Asieh Namdar, Karin d’Orville, February 28, 1999
“...In a class where more than 50 percent of the children are on Ritalin, Simon Isacks is one of the exceptions. His parents replaced Ritalin with a combination of magnesium and homeopathic remedies to help him concentrate and to overcome his anxiety.

The Houston Chronicle
Oscar bid no Affliction for Coburn
by Louis B. Park, February 25, 1999
“Coburn is enjoying his best movie month in years...
Coburn is 70 now... He had little luck with conventional doctors, of whom he has little good to say. But everything changed for him when he tried homeopathic remedies, he said. “I am finished with the arthritis, he said. I cured that. I mean, with a little help from my friends. It seems to be mainly on its wain. I don’t have any more pain.

Federal News Service
Prepared statement of Thomas
V. Holohan, MD, Chief,
Patient Care Services, Veterans Health Administration, before the House Committee on Government Reform
February 24, 1999
“We do not mean to imply that all unconventional treatments are ipso facto suspect. The critical point to be made is that the advocate of any treatment, conventional or unconventional, allopathic or homeopathic, surgical or psychological, has an ethical and moral obligation to provide high quality, convincing evidence that satisfactorily demonstrates the treatment is effective and that the benefit is clearly proportionate to the risk. This meets the intent of the Kefauver Commission which in 1962 mandated that pharmaceuticals must be shown by their manufacturers to be effective for their intended purpose.

Crain’s New York Business
Health Care goes Holistic with Mind-body Centers: Hospitals Expand Alternative Care Programs to Meet Patient Demand
by Karen Angel, February 22, 1999
“In a sign that New York’s health care establishment is starting to recognize the potential of unconventional medicine, leading hospitals are investing heavily in mind-body centers. Both Beth Israel Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are opening complementary care centers, which emphasize a holistic approach to wellness and include treatments such as acupuncture, herbal therapy, homeopathy and hypnosis. Hospitals are opening complementary medical centers because of patient demand and to increase their market share, says Dr. Woodson Merrell, executive director of Beth Israel’s Center for Health and Healing and a practitioner of integrative medicine. Five to 10 years from now, this will be the standard for medical care... We have to show insurance companies that they can save huge amounts of money in the long run by supporting these preventive programs now.

The Northern Echo
Complementary Medicine
February 18, 1999
The use of complementary medicines in Europe is growing by leaps and bounds. In Germany and France about half the population now uses some form of treatment other than orthodox medicines. Homeopathy is most popular in Belgium, Holland and France where 36 per cent of people now use homeopathic medicines... In Belgium 84 per cent of homeopathic and 74 per cent of acupuncture treatments are done by family doctors... Information taken from the Alternative and Complementary Medicine Overview.

Chicago Tribune
Filling a Void; Alternative Therapies Meeting Needs of Supply and Demand
by Bob Condor, February 18, 1999

Third in a four-part series on alternative medicine, “When we started out last summer, insurance coverage was spotty, said Dr. Donald W. Novey, medical director of the Center for Complementary Medicine, affiliated with Advocated Medical Group and Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. We already see more coverage. It is market-driven. Insurance companies know if they don’t cover these treatments, such as acupuncture, massage therapy and homeopathy, employers will switch plans to ones that do.

Agent France Presse
France art VanGogh
by Annick Benoist, February 13, 1999
“As art lovers in London flock to the exhibition of works by impressionist Claude Monet, those in Paris are being given an insight into Van Gogh and the patron of the last three months of his life, Dr. Gachet... Dr. Gachet acquired an interest in homeopathy and nervous diseases, and developed Dr. Gachet’s antiseptic liquid, which found favor in military field ambulances for the treatment of wounds... he treated Pisarro’s family in 1872 and made the acquaintance of Cezanne, Guillaumin and the Impressionists”.

BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme
Health - Glimmer of hope for homeopathy cures
by Roger Harrabin, February 12, 1999
“The theory has been ridiculed by many orthodox doctors. But research at the University of Utrecht in Holland suggests there may be something to it. Researchers took cells from a pig’s liver and poisoned them with arsenic. They then treated some of them with a homeopathic dose of one part arsenic to a million parts water. Dr. Roeland van Wijck, who led the research, said: “The homeopathically treated cells recovered better”. If the tests are ever independently verified homeopaths will celebrate the energy field discovered by physicists in shaken water was first suggested by Hahnemann 200 years ago.


Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Natural Remedies Intrigue Seniors
by Barbara Quirk, February 2, 1999
“Many older Americans today are curious about alternative therapies and have begun, either on their own or with the advice of others, to avail themselves of these options. Homeopathy, for instance-many traditional American physicians have debunked the theory as “scientifically indefensible” and feel any homeopathic benefits are simply due to a placebo response. Still, there are some medical providers who, while admitting there is no scientific proof of effectiveness, use homeopathic formulas.