Regulator drops cases against pharmacies offering homoeopathic malaria prophylaxis

The General Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain has closed cases against pharmacies that offer people homoeopathic remedies to protect them against malaria, after the pharmacists took “remedial action.” The council made no changes to the pharmacists’ registration to practise, however. Its investigation was disclosed in a statement published last week.

The cases were brought after a joint investigation in 2006 by Sense About Science, a charity that promotes evidence based science, and the BBC television programme Newsnight. The investigation showed that the first 10 homoeopathic clinics and pharmacies selected from an internet search recommended homoeopathic pills containing no proven active ingredients to a researcher who said she was travelling to countries where malaria is endemic, instead of referring her to a GP or conventional travel clinic.

The …