Boots Homeopathy Watch
Boots, the high street chemist, had an embarassing experience with the UK Government recently. What lessons have they learned?
Evidence Check
On the 25th of November 2009, Paul Bennett, professional standards director for Boots, was asked to attend the UK Government's evidence check session on homeopathy. Boots is Britain's leading high street pharmacy, with a reputation to match and a corporate responsibility statement that reads, in part: "... it’s part of our heritage to treat our customers fairly and act with integrity in everything we do, rather than seizing on the quickest and easiest way to turn a profit."
One might therefore have expected something better than: "There is certainly a consumer demand for these products ... I have no evidence to suggest they are efficacious. It is about consumer choice for us and a large number of our customers believe they are efficacious."
In other words, we don't care if they work as long as the customers do and we can take their money.
Having been appropriately named and shamed, the next day, Boots removed all their homeopathic products, and everything was set right.
What? That's It?
Of course it isn't. I trundled past my local branch of Boots on December 7, and remembered that I had my camera in my pocket. I thought a nice picture of the empty shelves where the unevidenced homeopathic nostrums used to be would be amusing, so I went in.
Well...
A quick count suggests that there are over 40 homeopathic "remedies" available, and that's just two shelves. There are 19 Bach Flower Remedies, two shelves of "anti-allergens", a shelf full of "tonics" and "immune boosters" (ooh look, some Vitamin C - something with a demonstrable effect!), diet aids, colon cleansers, everyone's favourite St John's Wort, "detox" plans (a snip at £35) and wonder pills to maintain your vision. I was half-expecting to come across a toothpaste that cleans and straightens your teeth.
Best of all, they still have Duchy Originals Detox Tincture, described as "outright quackery" by Edzard Ernst. See if you can spot it - it's kind of like "Where's Wally?" for alternative medicine skeptics.
Lesson Learned
Lesson learned? It seems that the lesson learned is that the Government can call you out on unproven treatments, and business carries on as usual. Hardly a climbdown for Boots on the alternative health front.
Will they follow their values of "integrity" and "fairness"? Or will they just continue to seize on the quickest and easiest way to make a profit? Only time will tell.
But don't hold your breath.