Comments on the AANP
Position on Homeopathy

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians position statement on homeopathy is one of the most damning indictments of naturopathy I have found. Homeopathy is a pseudoscience based on delusions that (a) a substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person can cure ill people with similar symptoms; and (b) the more dilute the remedy, the greater the effect.

All of the full-time naturopathic schools require their students to take several courses on homeopathy. A report on the AANP Web site indicates that in 1995 or 1996, three of the schools listed 66, 140, and 144 hours of homeopathy training in their catalogs. I cannot imagine how a clear-thinking person could tolerate spending so many hours studying nonsense or would want to belong to a profession that embraces it.

HOMEOPATHY PRACTICED BY NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIANS WHEREAS homeopathy has been an integral part of naturopathic medicine since its inception and is a recognized specialty for which the naturopathic profession has created a distinct specialty organization, the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians, WHEREAS homeopathy has been recognized, through rigorous testing and experimentation, as having significant scientific evidence supporting its efficacy and safety. WHEREAS homeopathic products are being subjected to intensified federal regulations and restrictions, WHEREAS products are being promoted and marketed as "homeopathic" for a variety of uses ranging from weight-loss aids to immunizations. Many of these preparations are not homeopathic and many have not been satisfactorily proven to be efficacious, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED that it is the position of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians that: I. Homeopathy is taught in the Naturopathic Colleges and its practice should be included in the naturopathic licensing laws. Naturopathic physicians recognize other licensed practitioners of the healing arts who are properly trained in homeopathy. II. The naturopathic profession initiate more clinical trials and provings to further evaluate the effectiveness of homeopathy. III. Naturopathic physicians be authorized to prescribe and dispense all products included in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS). IV. Homeopathic products be subject to strict labeling requirements. Preparations which are not prepared in accord with the manufacturing principles in the HPUS should not use the term "homeopathic.". If parents choose homeopathic preparations for their children or their wards for the prophylaxis of infectious disease as an alternative to conventional vaccines, the physician should clearly state that they are unproven and that they are not legal substitutes for the state-mandated requirements. V. Homeopathic prescriptions should be made with careful evaluation of their effect on the entire organism. -- Adopted at the 1993 Annual Convention of American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Principal Authors: Michael Traub, Lauri Aesoph, Peggy Rollo, Bruce Dickson, Brent Mathieu, Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, Stephen King, Julian Winston, Louise Edwards, Prudence Broadwell.

 

---