Editing Homeopathy (section)

==History==
Homeopathy was created in 1796 by [[Samuel Hahnemann]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Loudon|first=Irvine|date=December 2006|title=A brief history of homeopathy|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine|volume=99|issue=12|pages=607–610|doi=10.1177/014107680609901206|issn=0141-0768|pmc=1676328|pmid=17139061}}</ref> Hahnemann rejected the mainstream medicine of the late 18th century as irrational and inadvisable, because it was largely ineffective and often harmful.<ref name="Lasagna">
{{cite book
 |author      =Lasagna L
 |title       =The doctors' dilemmas
 |location    =New York
 |publisher   =Collier Books
 |year        =1970
 |orig-date    =1962
 |page        =33
 |isbn        =978-0-8369-1669-0
}}</ref><ref name="isbn0-393-06661-4">{{cite book |author1=Edzard Ernst |author-link1=Edzard Ernst|author2=Singh, Simon |author-link2=Simon Singh|title=Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-393-06661-6 |title-link=Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine }}</ref> He advocated the use of single drugs at lower doses and promoted an immaterial, [[vitalism|vitalistic]] view of how living organisms function.<ref name="Pray2003">{{cite book|author=W. Steven Pray|title=a History of Nonprescription Product Regulation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uadgq04eLr0C&pg=PA192|access-date=January 21, 2013|date=August 1, 2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7890-1538-9|page=192}}</ref> The term ''homeopathy'' was coined by Hahnemann and first appeared in print in 1807.<ref>
{{cite journal|author=Dean ME|year=2001|title=Homeopathy and "the progress of science"|url=http://www.shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf|journal=Hist Sci|volume=39|issue=125 Pt 3|pages=255–83|bibcode=2001HisSc..39..255E|doi=10.1177/007327530103900301|pmid=11712570|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060101084902/http://www.shpltd.co.uk/dean-homeopathy.pdf|archive-date=January 1, 2006|access-date=March 31, 2009|s2cid=23943688}}
</ref> He also coined the expression "[[allopathic medicine]]", which was used to pejoratively refer to traditional Western medicine.<ref name="Whorton2004">{{cite book|author=Whorton JC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RU0DndWVSPoC&pg=PA18|title=Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America|publisher=[[Oxford University Press US]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-517162-4|location=New York|pages=18, 52}}</ref>

===Concept===
[[File:Samuel Hahnemann Monument, Scott Circle.jpg|thumb|[[Samuel Hahnemann Monument]], Washington, D.C., with the inscription ''Similia Similibus Curentur'' – "Like cures Like"]]
Hahnemann conceived of homeopathy while translating a medical treatise by the Scottish physician and chemist [[William Cullen]] into German. Being sceptical of Cullen's theory that [[cinchona]] cured [[malaria]] because it was bitter, Hahnemann ingested some bark specifically to investigate what would happen. He experienced fever, shivering and [[arthralgia|joint pain]]: symptoms similar to those of malaria itself. From this, Hahnemann came to believe that all effective drugs produce symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the diseases that they treat.<ref name="UllmanReichenberg-Ullman1994">{{cite book|author1=Robert W. Ullman|author2=Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman|title=The patient's guide to homeopathic medicine |url=https://archive.org/details/patientsguidetoh00robe |url-access=registration|access-date=January 24, 2013|date=October 1, 1994|publisher=Picnic Point Press|isbn=978-0-9640654-2-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/patientsguidetoh00robe/page/1 1]–2}}</ref> This led to the name ''"homeopathy"'', which comes from the {{langx|grc|ὅμοιος}} ''hómoios'', "-like" and {{lang|el|πάθος}} ''páthos'', "suffering".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Merrell|first1=Woodson C.|last2=Shalts|first2=Edward|date=2002|title=Homeopathy|journal=The Medical Clinics of North America|volume=86|issue=1|pages=47–62|doi=10.1016/s0025-7125(03)00071-3|issn=0025-7125|pmid=11795090}}</ref>

The doctrine that those drugs are effective which produce symptoms similar to the symptoms caused by the diseases they treat, called "the law of similars", was expressed by Hahnemann with the Latin phrase ''[[similia similibus curentur]]'', or "like cures like".<ref name="Hahnemann" /> Hahnemann's law of similars is unproven and does not derive from the [[scientific method]].<ref name="Kirk">{{cite journal|date=December 1894|editor2=John Hugh McQuillen|editor3=George Jacob Ziegler|editor4=James William White|editor5=Edward Cameron Kirk|editor6=Lovick Pierce Anthony|title=A wail from the waste-basket|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dencos/acf8385.0036.001/1050:349?didno=ACF8385.0036.001;rgn=full+text;view=image|journal=[[The Dental Cosmos]]|type=editorial|volume=36|issue=12|pages=1030–32|editor=J. D. White}}</ref> An account of the effects of eating cinchona bark noted by [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], published in 1861, failed to reproduce the symptoms Hahnemann reported.<ref name="Holmes" />{{rp|128}} Subsequent scientific work showed that cinchona cures malaria because it contains [[quinine]], which kills the ''[[Plasmodium falciparum]]'' parasite that causes the disease; the mechanism of action is unrelated to Hahnemann's ideas.<ref name="Atwood-BTTF1">{{cite web |url=http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/homeopathy-and-evidence-based-medicine-back-to-the-future-part-i/ |title=Homeopathy and evidence-based medicine: back to the future |publisher=[[Science Based Medicine]] |date=January 4, 2008 |access-date=September 9, 2013 |last=Atwood |first=Kimball}}</ref>

====Provings====
Hahnemann began to test what effects various substances may produce in humans, a procedure later called "homeopathic proving". These tests required subjects to test the effects of ingesting substances by recording all their symptoms as well as the ancillary conditions under which they appeared.<ref name="Haehl1922">{{cite book|author=Richard Haehl|title=Samuel Hahnemann: His Life and Work: Based on Recently Discovered State Papers, Documents, Letters, Etc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q80gR6OxDVsC&pg=PA101|access-date=January 24, 2013|year=1922|publisher=B. Jain Publishers|isbn=978-81-7021-693-3|page=101}}</ref> He published a collection of provings in 1805, and a second collection of 65 preparations appeared in his book, ''Materia Medica Pura'' (1810).<ref name="Kirschmann2004">{{cite book|author=Anne Taylor Kirschmann|title=A vital force: women in American homeopathy |url=https://archive.org/details/vitalforcewomeni0000kirs|url-access=registration|access-date=January 28, 2013|year=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-3320-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/vitalforcewomeni0000kirs/page/11 11]}}</ref>

As Hahnemann believed that large doses of drugs that caused similar symptoms would only aggravate illness, he advocated for extreme dilutions. A technique was devised for making dilutions that Hahnemann claimed would preserve the substance's therapeutic properties while removing its harmful effects.<ref name="Dynamization and Dilution">{{cite web |title=Dynamization and dilution |work=Complementary and Alternative Medicine |publisher=[[Creighton University]] Department of Pharmacology |url=http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/philosophy/dilution.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020826082134/http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/philosophy/dilution.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2002 |access-date=March 24, 2009}}</ref> Hahnemann believed that this process enhanced "the spirit-like medicinal powers of the crude substances".<ref name="Organon_5th_269">{{cite book |author=Hahnemann S |title=The organon of the healing art |year=1833 |publisher=Keats Pub. |edition=5th |at=aphorism 269 |isbn=978-0-87983-228-5}}.
{{cite book |author=Hahnemann S |title=The organon of the healing art |publication-date=1921 |year=1842 |publisher=Keats Pub. |edition=6th |at=aphorism 270 |isbn=978-0-87983-228-5}}</ref> He gathered and published an overview of his new medical system in his book, ''[[The Organon of the Healing Art]]'' (1810), with a sixth edition published in 1921 that homeopaths still use today.<ref name="homhist1">
{{cite web |title=History of Homeopathy |publisher=Creighton University Department of Pharmacology |url=http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/history.htm |access-date=July 23, 2007 |date=July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705095116/http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/history.htm |archive-date=July 5, 2007}}</ref>

====Miasms and disease====
In the ''Organon'', Hahnemann introduced the concept of "miasms" as the "infectious principles" underlying chronic disease<ref name="ClarkeClarke2001">{{cite book |author=John Henry Clarke |title=Homeopathy explained |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUGIWuo4qc8C&pg=PA22 |access-date=January 12, 2013 |date=January 1, 2001 |publisher=Nanopathy |pages=22–|id=GGKEY:JWCD56EF80T }}</ref> and as "peculiar morbid derangement[s] of vital force".<ref name="Grimes2012">{{cite journal
|author=Grimes, D. R.
|title=Proposed mechanisms for homeopathy are physically impossible
|journal=[[Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies]] 
|date=2012
|volume=17
|issue=3
|page=154|doi=10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01162.x
}}</ref> Hahnemann associated each miasm with specific diseases, and thought that initial exposure to miasms causes local symptoms, such as skin or venereal diseases. His assertion was that if these symptoms were suppressed by medication, the cause went deeper and began to manifest itself as diseases of the internal organs.<ref name="miasms" /> Homeopathy maintains that treating diseases by directly [[Symptomatic treatment|alleviating their symptoms]], as is sometimes done in conventional medicine, is ineffective because all "disease can generally be traced to some latent, deep-seated, underlying chronic, or inherited tendency".<ref>
{{cite journal
|url =http://homeoint.org/cazalet/ward/historycase.htm
|author =Ward JW
|title=Taking the history of the case
|journal=Pacific Coast Journal of Homeopathy
|date=July 1937
|access-date =October 22, 2007
}}</ref> The underlying imputed miasm still remains, and deep-seated ailments can be corrected only by removing the deeper disturbance of the vital force.<ref name="homphilo">
{{cite web
 |title=Cause of disease in homeopathy
 |publisher=Creighton University Department of Pharmacology
 |url=http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/philosophy/cause.htm
 |access-date=July 23, 2007
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231160035/http://altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/philosophy/cause.htm
 |archive-date=December 31, 2009
}}</ref>

Hahnemann's [[hypotheses]] for miasms originally presented only three local symptoms: psora (the itch), [[syphilis]] (venereal disease) or [[sycosis]] (fig-wart disease).<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Homoeopathy |volume=13 |page=645 |first=William Tod |last=Helmuth}}</ref> Of these the most important was ''psora'', described as being related to any itching diseases of the skin and was claimed to be the foundation of many further disease conditions. Hahnemann believed it to be the cause of such diseases as [[epilepsy]], [[cancer]], [[jaundice]], [[deafness]], and [[cataracts]].<ref name="Hahnemann_Chronic">
{{cite book
|author =Hahnemann S
|title =Die chronischen Krankheiten, ihre eigenthümliche Natur und homöopathische Heilung [The chronic diseases, their specific nature and homoeopathic treatment]
|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Xfk3AAAAMAAJ
|location =[[Dresden]] and [[Leipzig]]
|publisher =Arnoldische Buchhandlung
|year =1828
}}{{Page needed|date=March 2011}}</ref> Since Hahnemann's time, other miasms have been proposed, some replacing illnesses previously attributed to the psora, including [[tuberculosis]] and [[cancer]] miasms.<ref name="miasms">
{{cite web
 |work        = Classical homeopathy
 |title       = Miasms in homeopathy
 |url         = http://homepage.ntlworld.com/homeopathy_advice/Theory/Intermediate/miasm.html
 |author      = King S
 |access-date  = March 25, 2009
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090307120146/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/homeopathy_advice/Theory/Intermediate/miasm.html
 |archive-date = March 7, 2009
 }}</ref>

Hahnemann's miasm theory remains disputed and controversial within homeopathy even in modern times. The theory of miasms has been criticized as an explanation developed to preserve the system of homeopathy in the face of treatment failures, and for being inadequate to cover the many hundreds of sorts of diseases, as well as for failing to explain disease predispositions, as well as [[genetics]], environmental factors, and the unique disease history of each patient.<ref name="Shelton">{{cite book |last=Shelton |first=JW |year=2004 |title=Homeopathy: How it really works |url=https://archive.org/details/homeopathyhowitr0000shel |url-access=registration |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=[[Prometheus Books]] |isbn=978-1-59102-109-4}}</ref>{{rp|148–9|date=November 2012}}

===19th century: rise to popularity and early criticism===
[[File:Beydeman Gomeopatiya vzir.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Homeopathy Looks at the Horrors of Allopathy]]'', an 1857 painting by Alexander Beydeman, showing historical figures and personifications of homeopathy observing the [[heroic medicine|brutality of medicine]] of the 19th century]]Homeopathy achieved its greatest popularity in the 19th century. It was introduced to the United States in 1825 by Hans Birch Gram, a student of Hahnemann.<ref name="Miller">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Miller |title=America's alternative religions |publisher=State University of New York Press, Albany |date=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americasalternat00mill/page/80 80] |isbn=978-0-7914-2397-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/americasalternat00mill/page/80 }}</ref> The first homeopathic school in the United States opened in 1835 and the [[American Institute of Homeopathy]] was established in 1844. Throughout the 19th century, dozens of homeopathic institutions appeared in Europe and the United States,<ref name="Julian">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html
 |title        = Homeopathy Timeline
 |access-date  = July 23, 2007
 |website= Whole Health Now
 |archive-date = December 15, 2018
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181215122834/http://www.wholehealthnow.com/homeopathy_pro/homeopathy_1825_1849.html
 }}</ref> and by 1900, there were 22 homeopathic colleges and 15,000 practitioners in the United States.<ref name="Time19951125" />

Because medical practice of the time relied on treatments which were often ineffective and harmful, patients of homeopaths often had better outcomes than those being treated by medical practitioners.<ref name="pmid8885813">{{cite journal |last1=Ernst |first1=E. |last2=Kaptchuk |first2=TJ |title=Homeopathy revisited |journal=Archives of Internal Medicine |volume=156 |issue=19 |pages=2162–4 |year=1996 |pmid=8885813 |doi=10.1001/archinte.156.19.2162}}</ref> Though ineffective, homeopathic preparations are rarely detrimental, thus users are less likely to be harmed by the treatment that is supposed to be helping them.<ref name="homhist1" /> The relative success of homeopathy in the 19th century may have led to the abandonment of the ineffective and harmful treatments of [[bloodletting]] and purging and begun the move towards more effective, [[science-based medicine]].<ref name="kaufmanm">
{{cite book
 |author      =Kaufman M
 |title       =Homeopathy in America: The rise and fall of a medical heresy
 |publisher   =[[The Johns Hopkins University Press]]
 |year        =1971
 |isbn        =978-0-8018-1238-5
}}{{Page needed|date=March 2011}}</ref> One reason for the growing popularity of homeopathy was its apparent success in treating people suffering from infectious disease epidemics.<ref>
{{cite book
 |author      =Coulter HL
 |year        =1973
 |title       =Divided Legacy
 |pages       =II:544–46; III:267–70, 298–305
 |location    =Berkeley
 |publisher   =North Atlantic
 |oclc        =9538442
}}</ref> During 19th-century epidemics of diseases such as [[cholera]], death rates in homeopathic hospitals were often lower than in conventional hospitals, where the treatments used at the time were often harmful and did little or nothing to combat the diseases.<ref>Death rates in conventional hospitals were typically two- to eight-fold higher than in homeopathic hospitals for patients with these infectious diseases; see
{{cite book
 |title       =The logic of figures or comparative results of homeopathic and other treatments
 |author      =Bradford TL
 |publisher   =Kessinger
 |year        =2007
 |orig-date    =1900
 |isbn        =978-1-4304-8892-7
}}{{Page needed|date=March 2011}}</ref>

Even during its rise in popularity, homeopathy was criticized by scientists and physicians. [[John Forbes (physician)|Sir John Forbes]], physician to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]], said in 1843 that the extremely small doses of homeopathy were regularly derided as useless and considered it "an outrage to human reason".<ref name="John_Forbes">
{{cite book
 |author      =Forbes J
 |title       =Homeopathy, allopathy and young physic
 |location    =London
 |year        =1846
}}</ref> [[James Young Simpson]] said in 1853 of the highly diluted drugs: "No poison, however strong or powerful, the billionth or decillionth of which would in the least degree affect a man or harm a fly."<ref>
{{cite book
 |author      =Simpson JY
 |title       =Homoeopathy, its tenets and tendencies, theoretical, theological and therapeutical
 |location    =Edinburgh
 |publisher   =Sutherland & Knox
 |year        =1853
 |page        =11
}}</ref> Nineteenth-century American physician and author [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]] was also a vocal critic of homeopathy and published an essay entitled ''[[Homœopathy and Its Kindred Delusions]]'' (1842).<ref name="Holmes" /> The members of the French Homeopathic Society observed in 1867 that some leading homeopaths of Europe not only were abandoning the practice of administering infinitesimal doses but were also no longer defending it.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |title       =Homœopathists vs homœopathy
 |editor      =Allen JA
 |journal     =Chic Med J
 |pages       =268–69
 |year        =1867
 |volume      =24
 |issue =6
 |pmid =37412875
 |pmc =9801777
 |url         =https://books.google.com/books?id=R08VAAAAYAAJ&q=leading+europe+abandoning&pg=PA268
 }}</ref> The last school in the United States exclusively teaching homeopathy closed in 1920.<ref name="homhist1" />

=== Revival in the 20th century ===
According to academics {{Interlanguage link|Paul U. Unschuld|lt=|de||WD=}} and [[Edzard Ernst]], the [[Nazi]] regime in Germany was fond of homeopathy, and spent large sums of money on researching its mechanisms, but without gaining a positive result.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ernst|first=Edzard|title=Standing up for the truth about homeopathy and Nazi medicine|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/standing-up-for-the-truth-about-homeopathy-and-nazi-medicine-1.2138835|access-date=2020-10-26|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> Unschuld also states that homeopathy never subsequently took root in the [[United States]], but remained more deeply established in European thinking.<ref name="Unschuld2009">{{cite book|author=Paul Ulrich Unschuld|title=What Is Medicine?: Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bPMTlS1pzEUC&pg=PA171|access-date=September 7, 2013|date=August 9, 2009|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-94470-1|page=171}}</ref> In the United States, the ''[[Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act|Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act]]'' of 1938 (sponsored by [[Royal S. Copeland|Royal Copeland]], a [[United States Senate|Senator]] from [[New York (state)|New York]] and homeopathic physician) recognized homeopathic preparations as drugs. In the 1950s, there were only 75 solely homeopathic practitioners in the U.S.<ref>
{{cite news
 |title       =Homeopathic Hassle
 |url         =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891760,00.html
 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081214115339/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891760,00.html
 |archive-date =December 14, 2008
 |magazine   =[[Time (magazine)|Time]]
 |date        =August 20, 1956
}}</ref> By the mid to late 1970s, homeopathy made a significant comeback and the sales of some homeopathic companies increased tenfold.<ref name="rader">
{{cite news
 |date        =March 1, 1985
 |publisher   =FDA Consumer Magazine
 |author      =Rader WM
 |url         =http://www.homeowatch.org/history/fdac1.html
 |title       =Riding the coattails of homeopathy's revival
}}</ref>

Some homeopaths credit the revival to Greek homeopath [[George Vithoulkas]], who conducted a "great deal of research to update the scenarios and refine the theories and practice of homeopathy" in the 1970s,<ref name="pmid12614092">{{Cite journal |volume=138 |issue=5 |pages=393–99 |last=Jonas |first=WB |author2=TJ Kaptchuk |author3=K Linde |title=A critical overview of homeopathy |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |year=2003 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-138-5-200303040-00009|pmid=12614092 |s2cid=22787732 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Lockie |title=Encyclopedia of Homeopathy |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahome00lock_433 |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2000 |location=New York |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahome00lock_433/page/n20 19] |isbn=978-0-7566-1871-1 }}</ref> but Ernst and [[Simon Singh]] consider it to be linked to the rise of the [[New Age movement]].<ref name="isbn0-393-06661-4" /> [[Bruce Hood (psychologist)|Bruce Hood]] has argued that the increased popularity of homeopathy in recent times may be due to the comparatively long consultations practitioners are willing to give their patients, and to a [[appeal to nature|preference for "natural" products]], which people think are the basis of homeopathic preparations.<ref name="Hood2009">{{cite book|author=Bruce M. Hood|title=SuperSense|url=https://archive.org/details/supersensewhyweb00hood|url-access=registration|access-date=September 7, 2013|date=April 7, 2009|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-186793-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/supersensewhyweb00hood/page/157 157]}}</ref>

Towards the end of the century opposition to homeopathy began to increase again; with [[William T. Jarvis]], the President of the [[National Council Against Health Fraud]], saying that "Homeopathy is a fraud perpetrated on the public with the government's blessing, thanks to the abuse of political power of Sen. Royal S. Copeland."<ref>{{cite web|author=William T. Jarvis|author-link=William T. Jarvis|title=Response to Isadora Stehlin "Homeopathy: real medicine or empty promises?" (originally published in ''FDA Consumer'' April 1997)|date=December 15, 2001|url=http://www.homeowatch.org/articles/fdac2.html}}</ref>

===21st century: renewed criticism===

Since the beginning of the 21st century, a series of [[Meta-analysis|meta-analyses]] have further shown that the therapeutic claims of homeopathy lack scientific justification.<ref name="champe">{{cite journal |last1=Crockett |first1=Chambers |title=Death by homeopathy: issues for civil, criminal and coronial law and for health service policy |pmid=22558899 |journal=Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=454–78 |year=2012 }}</ref> This had led to a decrease or suspension of funding by many governments. In a 2010 report, the [[Science and Technology Select Committee|Science and Technology Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons]] recommended that homeopathy should no longer receive [[National Health Service]] (NHS) funding due its lack of scientific credibility;<ref name="champe" /> NHS funding for homeopathy ceased in 2017.<ref name="TNHS" /> They also asked the [[Department of Health and Social Care|Department of Health]] in the UK to add homeopathic remedies to the list of forbidden prescription items.<ref name="bbc-blacklist" />

In 2015, the [[National Health and Medical Research Council]] of Australia found that "there are no health conditions for which there is reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Australian report |url=https://www.hri-research.org/resources/homeopathy-the-debate/the-australian-report-on-homeopathy/ |website=HRI Research |access-date=13 August 2018|date=April 6, 2017 }}</ref> The federal government only ended up accepting three of the 45 recommendations made by the 2018 review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Abusson|first1=Kate|date=3 May 2018|title=Pharmacies avoid homeopathy ban as government parks recommendations|work=Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/pharmacies-avoid-homeopathy-ban-as-government-parks-recommendations-20180503-p4zd94.html|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> The same year the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) held a hearing requesting public comment on the regulation of homeopathic drugs.<ref name="Science42115">{{cite news|author1=Kelly Servick|date=April 21, 2015|title=FDA takes new look at homeopathy|work=Science|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/fda-takes-new-look-homeopathy|access-date=April 23, 2015|quote=Under FDA guidelines issued in 1988, a company can sell homeopathic products over the counter without demonstrating their safety or efficacy, and―unlike dietary supplements―their packaging can include claims about treating specific conditions, as long as they are "self-limiting" and not chronic. Such conditions include sprains, colds, or allergies.}}</ref> In 2017 the FDA announced it would strengthen regulation of homeopathic products.<ref name="Frazier FDA to Reg">{{cite journal|last1=Frazier|first1=Kendrick|author-link=Kendrick Frazier|date=2018|title=FDA to Regulate Some Homeopathic Products; CFI Hails Move|journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|volume=42|issue=2|page=12}}</ref>

The American non-profit [[Center for Inquiry]] (CFI) filed a lawsuit in 2018 against the [[CVS Pharmacy|CVS]] pharmacy for consumer fraud over its sale of homeopathic medicines.<ref name="CVS">{{cite press release|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=CENTER FOR INQUIRY SUES CVS FOR FRAUD OVER SALE OF HOMEOPATHIC FAKE MEDICINE|url=https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/cfi-sues-cvs/|publisher=Center for Inquiry|date=9 July 2018|access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> It claimed that CVS was selling homeopathic products on an easier-to-obtain basis than standard medication.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bellamy|first1=Jann|title=CVS sued for deceiving consumers in sale of homeopathic remedies|url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/cvs-sued-for-deceiving-consumers-in-sale-of-homeopathic-remedies/|access-date=22 January 2019|website=Science Based Medicine|date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> In 2019, CFI brought a similar lawsuit against [[Walmart]] for "committing wide-scale consumer fraud and endangering the health of its customers through its sale and marketing of homeopathic medicines".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fidalgo|first=Paul|date=September 2019|title=CFI sues Walmart for fraud for selling homeopathic fake medicine|magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|location=Amherst, NY|publisher=Center for Inquiry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Vyse|first1=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Vyse|title=What Should Become of a Monument to Pseudoscience?|url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/what-should-become-of-a-monument-to-pseudoscience/|access-date=2 December 2019|website=Skeptical Inquirer|date=July 10, 2019|publisher=Center for Inquiry}}</ref> They also conducted a survey in which they found consumers felt ripped off when informed of the lack of evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic remedies, such as those sold by Walmart and CVS.<ref name="CFISurvey SI 2019">{{cite journal|last1=Frazier|first1=Kendrick|authorlink= Kendrick Frazier|date=2019|title=CFI survey on Homeopathy: Consumers feel scammed by Walmart and CVS|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|volume=43|issue=6|page=7}}</ref><ref name="CFI 2019 Survey">{{cite web|last1=Fidalgo|first1=Paul|title=CONSUMERS FEEL "SCAMMED" BY WALMART AND CVS OVER HOMEOPATHIC FAKE MEDICINE, SURVEY SHOWS|url=https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/consumers-feel-scammed-by-walmart-and-cvs-over-homeopathic-fake-medicine/|access-date=9 November 2019|website=Center for Inquiry|date=September 17, 2019}}</ref>

In 2021, the French healthcare minister phased out social security reimbursements for homeopathic drugs.<ref name="GuardianFrance" /><ref name="FranceEndFunding2021" /> France has long had a stronger belief in the virtues of homeopathic drugs than many other countries and the world's biggest manufacturer of alternative medicine drugs, [[Boiron]], is located in that country.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-health-homeopathy/france-will-end-healthcare-refunds-for-homeopathic-drugs-idUSKCN1U42B6 |title=France will end healthcare refunds for homeopathic drugs |website=[[Reuters]] |date=July 9, 2019}}</ref> Spain has also announced moves to ban homeopathy and other pseudotherapies.<ref name="El Pais 2019-07-30" /> In 2016, the [[University of Barcelona]] cancelled its master's degree in Homeopathy citing "lack of scientific basis", after advice from the Spanish Ministry of Health.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ansede|first1=Manuel|date=March 4, 2016|title=La Universidad de Barcelona fulmina su máster de homeopatía|newspaper=El País|url=http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/03/01/ciencia/1456856774_534268.html}}</ref> Shortly afterwards the [[University of Valencia]] announced the elimination of its Masters in Homeopathy.<ref>{{cite web|date=April 7, 2016|title=El Máster de Homeopatía de la Universidad de Valencia cancela su edición para el próximo curso.|url=http://www.abc.es/sociedad/abci-master-homeopatia-universidad-valencia-cancela-edicion-para-proximo-curso-201604072200_noticia.html|publisher=Diario ABC}}</ref>