Homeopaths in Australia face a fight to defend their practice after the National Health and Medical Research Council indicated that it might pronounce their work unfounded and unethical.
A draft public statement–not intended for distribution–says that “it was unethical for health practitioners to treat patients using homeopathy, for the reason that homeopathy (as a medicine or procedure) has been shown not to be efficacious,” according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The statement is based on a 2010 evaluation of homeopathy by the British House of Commons science and technology committee, which declared it was no more efficacious than a placebo, The Herald reported.
The council has not commented on the leak.