On November 16 the Italian Agency for Pharmaceutical Drugs (AIFA) obstructed an advertisement that invited consumers to consult their doctors for information on a homeopathic remedy (that they didn’t name) and encouraged them to ponder on the freedom of treatment choices. The fear of homeopathy is so great that authorities even arrive at denying the promotion of health care education and the comparison of cure options. We would like our readers to listen to the recording in question and come to their own conclusions on this issue.

Italian version

The description of the events that lead the AIFA (Italian Agency for Pharmaceutical Drugs) to block the advertisement for Oscillococcinum 200 was also published in the area of the website that is available for general access.

We feel that everyone should be able to decide for themselves about this issue: it's not just a question of advertising, it also refers to the theme of freedom to choose treatment and freedom of information.

It's sad that a message such as this that encourages a confrontation among experts, doctors or pharmacists that they may be, and promotes health education, should be blocked and denied.

At Eurosalus, we were struck by this event most of all because it arose within a context in which the flu vaccine is losing its scientific support. In fact, Tom Jefferson gave a recent discussion on the scarce effectiveness of the classic vaccine and the absolute uselessness of the flu vaccine prior to two years of age.

Maybe this is the reason why the advertisement was judged to be incorrect and misleading. It does seem obvious, however, that the AIFA statement (cited by ADN Kronos on November 16 ) confused the three different messages released by the Laboratoires Boiron. The AIFA also impeded the publication of the advertisement on specialized journals for doctors and pharmacists where scientific communication should be welcomed.
But we'll let people decide for themselves about the relevance and dangerousness of the message.

We have included a recording of the message to the right of this page. To listen to the audio, only if you wish to listen to it, just click on the picture. We'll make no further comments.

Italian version