Doctor Calls Homeopathic Remedies “Placebos” in Class Action Trial

A trial that was underway for a class action lawsuit involving homeopathic remedies in California charged Hyland’s Inc. with false advertising, alleging that the company cheated customers out of $350 million dollars.

The homeopathic remedies class action trial is against both Hyland’s and Hyland’s parent company Standard Homeopathic Co. The plaintiffs in the homeopathic remedy lawsuit allege that the homeopathic medicines the companies sell contains “very little, if any” of the active ingredients that are included, and this is not adequately disclosed to consumers.

Dr. Noel Rose, the director of John Hopkins’ Center for Autoimmune Disease Research was called to testify as an expert witness in the trial. He reviewed documents presented by the plaintiffs’ counsel and used his own clinical research and judgment to deliver his opinion.

Dr. Rose stated, “[In] my opinion there is no sound scientific or medical evidence that they provide any benefit to patients with medical conditions, such as those described and indicated on the labels beyond the placebo effect.”

Dr. Rose went on to further describe the history of homeopathic medicine, created by a doctor in the 18^th century, Samuel Hahnemann. Hahnemann’s idea was that ailments would be cured by using “like with like.”

The homeopathic solutions were highly diluted with ingredients that imitated the symptoms of disease in the doctor’s patients.

When many medicines in history were harmful or downright poisonous, what Hahnemann was doing was “not that bad” and did “less harm” than some of the alternatives, according to Dr. Rose.

Still, compared to the modern, scientific, evidence-based medicine we now have, Hahnemann’s homeopathic medicine remedies no longer stand up to the test, Rose explained.

Twelve products were originally included in the lawsuit as the plaintiffs sought class certifications. These homeopathic medicine list included Calms Forte, Defend Cold & Cough, Defend Cold & Cough Night, Migraine Headache Relief, Poison Ivy/Oak Tablets, ClearAc, Colic Tablets, Leg Cramps with Quinine, Teething Tablets, Hyland’s Cough and Seasonal Allergy Relief.

Two of the remedies were removed from the lawsuit- ClearAc and Poison Ivy/Oak tablets due to the plaintiff not being a typical class member representing those who purchased the two products.

The plaintiffs’ counsel then questioned the Chairman and CEO of Hyland’s, Jay Borneman, about any randomized clinical trials that had been conducted on the remedy, besides the teething remedy and cold and cough remedy.

He also asked Borneman to explain the results to a study that showed the cold and cough remedy was not beneficial.

Borneman responded that homeopathic ingredients that the company used in the formulations have been used clinically for more than a century.

He explained that the report the counsel was referring to was a preliminary report only, and that the study is still in progress and more recent evaluations have shown statistically significant positive effects.

Another member of the plaintiffs’ counsel asked Dr. Rose to explain his opinion on two studies conducted by James Taylor at the University of Washington — the cough and cold study referenced, as well as a study involving a Hyland’s product.

“My opinion is the two trials conducted by Dr. Taylor do not establish that the homeopathic remedies that he was studying do benefit beyond their placebo effect,” Dr. Rose said.

The Homeopathic Class Action Lawsuit is Kim Allen et al. v. Hyland’s Inc. et al., Case No. 2:12-cv-01150 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

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