Australia’s drug regulator is investigating the promotion of an ebook that advocates homeopathic treatment for babies and toddlers, against all scientific evidence.

Brauer, one of Australia’s largest homeopathy companies, promotes the Little Book of Natural Medicines for Children on its website. The book is available for download, and the website promotes the efficacy of homeopathic products. Brauer’s homeopathic products are sold in several pharmacies around Australia.

The book recommends “15 gentle, natural, safe and effective medicines that use homeopathic ingredients to quickly restore your child’s health”.



“Symptoms such as cough and cold, pain and fever, stomach aches and more can naturally be relieved and soothed with our products,” the book states.

“Clinical trials have shown that homeopathic medicines are effective in dealing with many different health problems.”

In 2015 the National Health and Medical Research Council reviewed 225 research papers on homeopathy and found it was not effective for treating any health condition. Homeopaths believe that when illness-causing substances are diluted in water or alcohol, the resulting mixture retains a “memory” of the original substance that triggers a healing response in the body. This theory has been scientifically debunked.

Earlier this month an independent panel reviewing pharmacy regulation for the health department recommended in its interim report that homeopathic products should be kept out of pharmacies on the grounds that they did not work and were placebos at best.

When alerted to the book by Guardian Australia, a Therapeutic Goods Administration spokeswoman said the administration’s advertising compliance unit would investigate Brauer “and take appropriate regulatory action should an issue be identified”.

“The promotional material published on the Brauer website and in the Little Book of Natural Medicines for Children appears to be directed at consumers and is therefore required to comply with the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code,” she said.



A professor of public health and drugs policy expert, Ken Harvey, said it was clear to him the book breached advertising regulations.

“Statements [in the book] are deceptive, misleading and in breach of a number of sections of areas of consumer law,” he said.

Brauer declined to comment, instead referring questions to the chief executive of Complementary Medicines Australia, Carl Gibson. Gibson said he took issue with the NHMRC’s finding that homeopathy was ineffective.

He said the highly respected medical research institution, Cochrane Australia, agreed with his view of the NHMRC’s finding.

But a Cochrane spokeswoman told Guardian Australia that Complementary Medicines Australia and Gibson had not accurately reflected Cochrane’s position. Cochrane had found the conclusion that homeopathy was clinically ineffective was “justified based on the evidence presented”, she said.

Gibson did not respond to requests from Guardian Australia for further information.

In a statement the NHMRC said its homeopathy review “has received international recognition, with many evidence-based medicine practitioners lauding it for its thorough and comprehensive assessment of available evidence”.

Loretta Marron is the chief executive of Friends of Science in Medicine, a group of scientists, consumer advocates and health professionals that promotes evidence-based treatments. She said the Brauer booklet was problematic and should be removed from websites.

“The words ‘homeopathy’ and ‘effective’ should never be used in the same text,” Marron said.

“To imply that a homeopathic remedy can boost or support a sick child’s immune system is pure nonsense. The principles of homeopathy contradict what we know about chemistry, physics, physiology and biology. Hundreds of clinical trials have failed to find good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective for any illness.”

She said children might be harmed if they were given homeopathic remedies instead of proven treatments. The Brauer book does suggest parents take their baby to a doctor for “infection, high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, refusing to eat or severe pain”, or if they felt unsure.

Only one pharmacy contacted by Guardian Australia said it would remove homeopathic products from stores in light of the findings from the government’s pharmacy review.

TerryWhite Chemmart said it had removed homeopathic products being advertised on its website after being contacted by Guardian Australia.

“A very limited range of homeopathic products, which were previously available online, have been removed from our website,” a spokeswoman said. “All pharmacies within the TerryWhite Chemmart network are owned by individual pharmacists, and they may choose to stock items outside the core range, including if requested to do so by customers.”

Most pharmacies did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Priceline pharmacies said the company would continue to sell homeopathic products and would wait until the pharmacy regulation review panel handed down its final report in September, “at which time further decisions can be made”.