Consumers spend $3 billion a year on homeopathic drugs, yet most remain unaware that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not evaluated them for safety and effectiveness. In comments filed with the FDA the week of August 17, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) urged the FDA to subject homeopathic drugs to the same testing requirements as conventional drugs. Failing that, CFI urged the FDA to at least require homeopathic products to be clearly labeled as untested and unproven.
Homeopathy is a centuries-old pseudoscience, developed before the discovery of disease-causing pathogens, based on the false beliefs that “like cures like” and that the more an ingredient is diluted the more potent it is, due to water’s “memory” of the diluted ingredient. As CFI stated in its comments, “By its own definition, homeopathy cannot work.” Yet for historical reasons relating to the passage of the original Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938 (which had a homeopathic practitioner as a key sponsor), homeopathic products can be marketed even though they are not subject to the rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness that conventional drugs must undergo.