Federal jury clears producer, marketer, and seller of homeopathic products in $255m class … Tucker Ellis
“Bell testified about her scientific studies in multiple chemical sensitivity and homeopathy, including how “nanoparticles” and “nanobubbles” can have an effect in biological cells. Dr. Bell opined, “It is very clear that nanoparticles in low doses are capable of capable of creating hermetic effects…similar to vaccine.” Dr. Bell explained how “hormesis” is a medical principle that describes how small doses of a substance can trigger the opposite effect of high doses of the same substance.”
USA September 18 2015
In a class action of importance to producers, marketers, and sellers of homeopathic products, on Friday, September 18, 2015, a federal jury in the false advertising trial of Allen, et al. v. Hylands, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:12-cv-01150 (“Hylands”) took less than a day to find defendants did not breach any express warranty or violate the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Civil Code sections 1750 et seq.
The putative class plaintiffs sued defendants Hylands, Inc. and Standard Homeopathic Company alleging they made false and misleading representations about the effectiveness of the active ingredients in 12 homeopathic products produced, marketed, and sold by the defendants throughout the United States.
Homeopathic products are derived from botanical, mineral or biological substances and are classified as either over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medicines. In contrast to conventional (allopathic) medicines, homeopathic remedies are predicated in part on the “principle of dilutions” under which active ingredients are thought to be more clinically useful or effective when they are significantly diluted, typically with purified water or an alcohol solution.
Homeopathic remedies and their packaging are not reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Homeopathic remedies, however, are classified as drugs under, and subject to, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and thus, must comply with the labeling requirements of the Act. The FDA has stated that it is not aware of any scientific evidence that homeopathic products are effective.
Back in August 2014, a California federal district court judge certified a nationwide class of purchasers of 10 of the products covering February 2008 to the present. The plaintiffs claimed defendants’ 12 homeopathic products, including some intended for infants and children, did not work as advertised because they were so diluted that the ingredients were “effectively non-existent” and the products were therefore not effective for their intended uses. The plaintiffs also alleged the homeopathic products labeling claims of “100% Natural,” “All Natural,” and “Natural” were untrue as the products purportedly contained synthetic chemicals, synthetically derived or chemically reduced elements, artificially produced elements, and/or dangerous or potentially dangerous ingredients.
The trial in Hylands spanned approximately two weeks and included expert testimony from both sides. Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Noel Rose, the director of John Hopkins’ Center of Autoimmune Disease Research testified as a medical expert, having reviewed materials provided by the plaintiffs’ counsel, as well as his own research into clinical and compilation studies, expert reports, published journal reports and the Hyland’s products and their labels. 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.”
Defendants kicked off their defense by calling Dr. Iris Bell, a former Harvard psychiatry instructor and holder of a doctorate degree from Stanford University in neuro- and biobehavioral sciences who has consulted with Highlands, Inc. to design clinical trials. Bell testified about her scientific studies in multiple chemical sensitivity and homeopathy, including how “nanoparticles” and “nanobubbles” can have an effect in biological cells. Dr. Bell opined, “It is very clear that nanoparticles in low doses are capable of capable of creating hermetic effects…similar to vaccine.” Dr. Bell explained how “hormesis” is a medical principle that describes how small doses of a substance can trigger the opposite effect of high doses of the same substance.
Although the plaintiffs initially sought full refunds worth $350 million, plaintiffs’ counsel wrapped up closing arguments with a demand of $255 million for allegedly tricking consumers into purchasing “simple sugar pills” that provide no medical benefit. The jury of six women and three men did not agree, and needed less than a day to deliberate.
Tucker Ellis – Ronie M. Schmelz, Matthew I. Kaplan and Ndubisi Ezeolu
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7d9b009a-e041-422c-b9cc-bb0437958523
Management of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections by Different Medical Practices, Including Homeopathy, and Consumption of Antibiotics in Primary Care: The EPI3 Cohort Study in France 2007–2008
Lamiae Grimaldi-Bensouda,1,2,* Bernard Bégaud,3 Michel Rossignol,4,5 Bernard Avouac,1 France Lert,6 Frederic Rouillon,7 Jacques Bénichou,8,9 Jacques Massol,10 Gerard Duru,11 Anne-Marie Magnier,12 Lucien Abenhaim,13,14 and Didier Guillemot15,16
C. Mary Schooling, Editor
Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ►
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
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Abstract
Background
Prescribing of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) varies substantially in primary care.
Objectives
To describe and compare antibiotic and antipyretic/anti-inflammatory drugs use, URTI symptoms’ resolution and occurrence of potentially-associated infections in patients seeking care from general practitioners (GPs) who exclusively prescribe conventional medications (GP-CM), regularly prescribe homeopathy within a mixed practice (GP-Mx), or are certified homeopathic GPs (GP-Ho).
Method
The EPI3 survey was a nationwide population-based study of a representative sample of 825 GPs and their patients in France (2007–2008). GP recruitment was stratified by self-declared homeopathic prescribing preferences. Adults and children with confirmed URTI were asked to participate in a standardized telephone interview at inclusion, one-, three- and twelve-month follow up. Study outcomes included medication consumption, URTI symptoms’ resolution and potentially-associated infections (sinusitis or otitis media/externa) as reported by patients. Analyses included calibration to account for non-respondents and groups were compared using multivate analyses adjusting for baseline differences with a propensity score.
Results
518 adults and children with URTI (79.3% rhinopharyngitis) were included (36.9% response rate comparable between groups). As opposed to GP-CM patients, patients in the GP-Ho group showed significantly lower consumption of antibiotics (Odds ratio (OR) = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27–0.68) and antipyretic/anti-inflammatory drugs (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.38–0.76) with similar evolution in related symptoms (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.64–2.10). An excess of potentially-associated infections (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 0.90–3.20) was observed in the GP-Ho group (not statistically significant). No difference was found between GP-CM and GP-Mx patients.
Conclusion
Patients who chose to consult GPs certified in homeopathy used less antibiotics and antipyretic/anti-inflammatory drugs for URTI than those seen by GPs prescribing conventional medications. No difference was observed in patients consulting GPs within mixed-practice. A non-statistically significant excess was estimated through modelling for associated infections in the GP-Ho group and needs to be further studied.
Baboon Study Reveals New Shortcoming of Pertussis Vaccine
he shortcomings of the whooping cough vaccine may help explain the disease’s resurgence
By Tara Haelle | Feb 1, 2014
IAN HOOTON Science Source
Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, once sickened more than 100,000 Americans a year. The bacterial illness, which is particularly dangerous to infants, was brought under control in the 1940s with the introduction of pertussis vaccines. But in the past two decades pertussis has made an alarming comeback.
In 2012 the number of U.S. cases rose to 48,277—the most since 1955. The resurgence has led researchers to reexamine the workings of the current vaccine, which uses bits and pieces of the Bordetella pertussis bacterium to stimulate the production of antibodies. This so-called acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine is in the widely used DTaP and TdaP shots, which also protect against diphtheria and tetanus. An older formulation with whole, inactivated B. pertussis cells was phased out in the 1990s because of its side effects.
Recent studies have shown that immunity from the acellular vaccine wanes relatively quickly. In 2012, for instance, a New England Journal of Medicine study determined that children’s odds of catching pertussis rose by 42 percent each year after receiving the final dose of DTaP, usually given between ages four and six, in the childhood vaccine series.
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Tod Merkel and his colleagues at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suspected another weakness lurked in the acellular vaccine—that it might not block the spread of the disease. To test their hypothesis, Merkel’s team members infected baboons with pertussis. Some of the animals had been vaccinated, and some had acquired natural immunity from a past bout of the illness. None of the vaccinated or naturally immune baboons fell ill, but the bacterium lingered for 35 days in the throats of the baboons that had received the acellular vaccine. Animals that had received the whole-cell vaccine cleared the infection nearly twice as fast.
During their infections, acellular-vaccinated baboons were able to pass the bacterium to unprotected animals, Merkel’s team recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. The study, says Eric Harvill, a professor of microbiology and infectious disease at Pennsylvania State University, “explains a lot of the observations about the circulation of pertussis in highly vaccinated populations.”
Finding out exactly how the different vaccines convey immunity might lead to a better pertussis shot, which Harvill, Merkel and their colleagues hope to develop over the next several years. “Clearly, the natural infection and whole-cell vaccine are stimulating some response besides the antibody response, and we’re trying to find out what,” Merkel says.
This article was originally published with the title “Coughing Up Clues.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baboon-study-reveals-new-shortcoming-of-pertussis-vaccine/
Help me get to Dallas, Texas for the HP Worldwide Conference on Homeoprophylaxis
Hello again!
I have been asked to present my Homeoprophylaxis for Malaria poster at the HP Worldwide conference next month (Oct 2,3,4th, 2015). This conference gathers the best minds of Homeopathy and Homeoprophylaxis including the controversial Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Isaac Golden. I am looking forward to creating a progressive, career-shifting meeting of minds in Dallas, Texas. Unfortunately, there is no funding to support my trip there. The Canadian dollar is continuing to drop and therefore my expenses are growing.
Airfare: CDN $937.00 from YVR to DFW
Conference fee: CDN $383.00 (earlybird price)
Hotel fees: as cheap as possible and shared accommodations: Approx. CDN $280.00
Food (enough to ensure my mind functions well): CDN $200 (Thursday to Sunday)
POSTER PRINTING! CDN$150.00
PS every $10 US is approx $14 CDN
The Homeopathic remedy named Sulphur alters NFκB-p300 cross-talk in favour of p53-p300 to induce apoptosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma
Authors:
Shilpi Saha Pushpak Bhattacharjee Deblina Guha Kirti Kajal Poulami Khan Sreeparna Chakraborty Shravanti Mukherjee Shrutarshi Paul Rajkumar Manchanda Anil Khurana Debadatta Nayak Rathin Chakrabarty Gaurisankar Sa Tanya Das
Corresponding author:
Gaurisankar Sa [ gauri@jcbose.ac.in ] Tanya Das [ tanya@jcbose.ac.in ]
View Affiliations
Published online on: Monday, June 22, 2015
Pages: 573-582 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2015.3061
Article has an altmetric score of 26
Abstract
Adverse side effects of chemotherapy during cancer treatment have shifted considerable focus towards therapies that are not only targeted but are also devoid of toxic side effects. We evaluated the antitumorigenic activity of sulphur, and delineated the molecular mechanisms underlying sulphur-induced apoptosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells. A search for the underlying mechanism revealed that the choice between the two cellular processes, NFκBp65-mediated survival and p53-mediated apoptosis, was decided by the competition for a limited pool of transcriptional coactivator protein p300 in NSCLC cells. In contrast, sulphur inhibited otherwise upregulated survival signaling in NSCLC cells by perturbing the nuclear translocation of p65NFκB, its association with p300 histone acetylase, and subsequent transcription of Bcl-2. Under such anti-survival condition, induction of p53-p300 cross-talk enhanced the transcriptional activity of p53 and intrinsic mitochondrial death cascade. Overall, the findings of this preclinical study clearly delineated the molecular mechanism underlying the apoptogenic effect of the non-toxic homeopathic remedy, sulphur, in NSCLC cells.
Practitioner: Elena Cecchetto, Homeopath Posted on Mar 7, 2013 by vitalitylink
Meet Elena Cecchetto, a homeopath based in Vancouver, BC.
Elena discovered homeopathy as a student in Toronto at her wit’s end with eczema. She tried homeopathy as a last ditch effort, having experimented with countless treatments.
Elena says that’s how many people first discover the practice. “It was a last resort for me, like it is for many people. They’ve tried everything else.”
She explains that homeopaths get to know a client’s physical, emotional and behavioural profile and then recommend a remedy that is specifically matched to them. The remedies are made of natural ingredients and created in homeopathic pharmacies.
Elena got more than she bargained for from her first homeopathic experience. Her eczema began to go away when she took the remedy, and eventually disappeared altogether. But more than that, her experience of everyday life changed.
She says, “I just felt a level of inner joy and that the world was open to me. I wouldn’t even have been able to describe that I wanted to feel this way.”
That feeling is now what Elena aims to help her clients achieve. She gets feedback like, ‘I just feel lighter’ and ‘Things don’t bother me anymore’.
Elena sees many children in her East Vancouver practice and has special certification to treat autistic kids. She also immunizes children for a wide variety of illnesses.
She treats adult clients for many common maladies. A lactose intolerant client came in for a remedy and was able to eat ice cream and cheese the next day without any problem.
She’s helped clients navigate the spring and summer months allergy-free without taking any drugs.
She’s also treated people with addiction, depression and anxiety. In one case, a client unable to work for two weeks solid because of panic attacks was quickly back to the office after seeing Elena.
Homeopathy is generally not an overnight cure. Elena explains it takes time for the remedies to work. If you’ve been dealing with a health issue for a long time, or it occurs frequently, you should anticipate the healing process will take longer.
Elena says, “The homeopathic approach is that every person is different. There is no one cause of any condition. We look for the core thing that’s happening with this person and everything else connects to that. Homeopathy says everything is connected. We match one remedy to the whole person.”
Special Offer: Elena is offering 25% off the first intake appointment for the homeopathic immunization protocol. In this 1.5 hour appointment, Elena takes down the child’s entire background (including information about pregnancy and delivery) so she’s well positioned to help down the road as the child proceeds through life.
The regular price of the homeopathic immuniziation protocol is: $195.
Contact Elena at: (604) 568-4663 or info@accessnaturalhealing.com
For more information, please visit Elena’s VitalityLink profile.
http://www.vitalitylink.com/blog/practitioners-stories/practitioner-elena-cecchetto-homeopath/
Influence of adjunctive classical homeopathy on global health status and subjective wellbeing in cancer patients – A pragmatic randomized controlled trial.
Frass M1, Friehs H2, Thallinger C3, Sohal NK4, Marosi C5, Muchitsch I6, Gaertner K7, Gleiss A8, Schuster E9, Oberbaum M10.
Author information
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
The use of complementary and alternative medicine has increased over the past decade. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether homeopathy influenced global health status and subjective wellbeing when used as an adjunct to conventional cancer therapy.
DESIGN:
In this pragmatic randomized controlled trial, 410 patients, who were treated by standard anti-neoplastic therapy, were randomized to receive or not receive classical homeopathic adjunctive therapy in addition to standard therapy. The study took place at the Medical University Vienna, Department of Medicine I, Clinical Division of Oncology.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
The main outcome measures were global health status and subjective wellbeing as assessed by the patients. At each of three visits (one baseline, two follow-up visits), patients filled in two different questionnaires.
RESULTS:
373 patients yielded at least one of three measurements. The improvement of global health status between visits 1 and 3 was significantly stronger in the homeopathy group by 7.7 (95% CI 2.3-13.0, p=0.005) when compared with the control group. A significant group difference was also observed with respect to subjective wellbeing by 14.7 (95% CI 8.5-21.0, p<0.001) in favor of the homeopathic as compared with the control group. Control patients showed a significant improvement only in subjective wellbeing between their first and third visits.
CONCLUSION:
Results suggest that the global health status and subjective wellbeing of cancer patients improve significantly when adjunct classical homeopathic treatment is administered in addition to conventional therapy.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Additive homeopathy; Cancer; Global health status; Homeopathy; Subjective well being
PMID:
26051564
[PubMed – in process]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26051564
A little goes a long way
https://www.patreon.com/El_Cecchetto?ty=h
Very much in the medical industry can be changed with so little funding for homeopathy because of the strong principles of healing that homeopathy is based on. It has been using in the very same manner for over 200 years. Did you know that homeoprophylaxis (using homeopathic remedies to prevent specific diseases) started to be used in 1799? This preliminary research is the beginning of development of more research to continue to make it clear how pertanent that homeopathic medicine can be for the prevention of specific infectious diseases. Once ‘the science’ of homeopathy can penetrate the narrow prevailing conventional medical system I see a way that it can quickly turn the tides on the current view of homeopathy and holistic medicine and allow the evidence of how perfectly useful that homeopathy can be to help ourselves, our societies and generations become healthier instead of less healthy.
I will soon also be published in Links Magazine and Hpathy.com has accepted one of my projects and will be published on July 17th. This research was also accepted to be postered at the annual IN-CAM Research Conference (again; all at my expense) and at the Homeopathic Research Institute in Rome. These projects took a lot of time and work despite that there is no compensation for these expenses.
While reading this plea, you might wonder to yourself of the reasons that I continue to follow my attempt to offer homeopathy despite the odds? …that NOT doing so feels like an abandonment of the primary code of conduct as a health practitioner ‘do no harm’ and against following the code ethics within the principles of beneficence and non-malevolence 4. If I don’t offer something that I know can benefit someone’s condition of health; then I feel that I am not acting as the compassionate human being that I know I am. If you would like to find out more, please contact me.
It is imperative to the forward movement of homeopathy as an option in Canada and will have very positive implications on my abilities to pursue important avenues as a rigorous and relevant researcher of holistic health options for all of us. This funding will contribute to supporting homeopaths in their unpaid work for people who can’t afford to pay out of pocket.
Homeopathy is second only to Jesus as the two most controversial topics according to Wikipedia 1. Considering my previous career in political advocacy focusing on environmental and conservation issues, I sometimes ask myself; Is that what attracted me to homeopathy? No! It was the fact that once I gave it a try for my lifetime struggle with de-habilitating eczema, it did something that nothing else could do for me and so I was ecstatic 2. That success indeed was what made me passionate about ensuring that people have ACCESS and know about homeopathy as an option if they so choose. Fortunately, that passion has led me here – writing to justify the amazing healing that I am now able to do for many others, now that I’ve spent over ten years continuing to study all aspects of homeopathy above and beyond my four year diploma requirement in order to call myself a homeopathic practitioner 3.
REFERENCES:
1.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/dysfunction-at-wikipedia-_b_5924226.html last accessed January 9, 15.
2.Medhurst, R. (2013). Homoeopathy for Eczema. Journal Of The Australian Traditional-Medicine Society, 19(2), 104-106.
3.https://homeopathiccures.wordpress.com/about/ last accessed January 9, 15.
4.http://www.studydroid.com/index.php?page=viewPack&packId=545924 last accessed January 9, 15.
Risks and challenges
Risks and Challenges. This project may get the attention of some skeptics and could be somehow interpreted as a negative project, however, as outlined above, this is not from a love of rigorous science but for a fear of change. This – I have discovered is just part and parcel of being a professionally sought after homeopathic practitioner and will not deter me from my passion for the truth and knowledge of true health and healing for everyone.http://www.accessnaturalhealing.com
homeopathic cures 