A study on homeopathic treatments by Spain’s Ministry of Health has concluded that the treatments are no more effective than a placebo.
Spain’s Ministry of Health has ruled that homeopathy is no better than a placebo treatment, with some even potentially putting patients at risk.
Results achieved through homeopathy “do not outperform the placebo effect” and there is no “scientific evidence” that it is an effective treatment while using it in place of other therapies may “put patients’ health at risk”, according to the conclusions of a Ministry of Health report published on Tuesday by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).
Homeopathic products are legal in Spain. There are 976 currently on the market, according to Spanish daily El País, and they may continue to be sold in pharmacies under certain conditions.
Homeopathy is a big business in Spain, with a turnover of more than €30 million in 2023, according to data provided to EL País by the consultancy firm HMR.
That accounts for 0.5 percent of total pharmaceutical sales in Spain.
The study was long-term. The Health Ministry identified 73 homeopathic therapies and began publishing reports on them, but the pandemic significantly slowed down the process and for several years the plan was put on hold.
Finally, drawing on systematic reviews of scientific studies published since 2009, the body has ruled that these products offer no real benefit for various conditions such as depression, autoimmune disorders or even skin conditions.
Spain’s Minister of Health, Mónica García, was clear in her statements upon publication: “Homeopathy does not work. We have analysed all the available scientific evidence and the result is as follows: it works no better than a placebo.
Many of these substances are so diluted that it is literally like dissolving a sachet of sugar in the Mediterranean. The better the studies are conducted, the less it works; the greater the rigour, the less effect. And the real health risk is abandoning treatments that do work. It is not what you take, but what you stop taking. In short, no substance, no explanation, no health benefits. Where there is science, beliefs do not rule, and in this case the science is clear.”
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In Spain, homeopathic products remained in a legal grey area until 2018.
It was then that the AEMPS brought them into line with current medical regulations, on the condition that their safety had to be proven. As a result, more than a thousand products sold in pharmacies were withdrawn, but there are just as many that are still legally sold in Spain.
However, in Spain they cannot be promoted for any therapeutic indication, nor can they claim to cure anything.
What has never happened in Spain is that homeopathy has been funded by the public healthcare system. Countries that used to do so, notably France and the UK, have gradually stopped in recent years.
Germany reportedly also plans to withdraw public funding in 2026.
