Bull Mem Acad R Med Belg. 1999 ; 154(7-9): 295-304; discussion 304-7.

[Is homeopathy superior to placebo? Controversy apropos of a meta-analysis of controlled studies]

Scheen A, LefÃ¨bvre P.

At a time when scientists support Evidence-Based Medicine, the Parliament of Belgium has recently decided to recognize four alternative medicines, among which homeopathy. Whereas this discipline does not rely on any scientific basis, it appears to be popular, especially in general practice. The homeopaths have recently taken arguments from a meta-analysis published in 1997 in the Lancet of 89 placebo-controlled trials. This study indeed concluded that the results are not compatible with the hypothesis that the clinical effects of homeopathy are completely due to placebo. However, this meta-analysis contains several methodological flaws. Furthermore, it is recognized that results of a meta-analysis may not be confirmed in large well-performed clinical trials. Thus, homeopathy should still provide the evidence that conventional medicine has regularly brought during the last two decades in many fields of therapeutics, with the respect of the rigorous rules of "Good Clinical Practice", leading to "Evidence-Based Medicine".