MHRA says Neal’s Yard oversteps the borderline

Neal’s Yard Remedies, a cosmetic chain, has withdrawn a homeopathic remedy for malaria after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) decided that its sale was misleading and potentially harmful.

Homeopathic remedies are classified as medicines and need prior authorisation by the MHRA before going on sale. However, the watchdog had no record of authorisation for the product Malaria Officinalis 30c.

“This product was clearly intended to be viewed as a treatment or preventive for malaria, which is a serious and potentially life-threatening disease,” said David Carter, head of the borderline team at the MHRA.

Neal’s Yard Remedies deny that Malaria Officinalis 30c was advertised or sold as a preventative for malaria. According to Susan Curtis, medicines director of Neal's Yard Remedies: “The name of the remedy is based on its Latin name and not on its claim to cure or prevent an ailment. It has been supplied on request by practitioners working in Neal's Yard Remedies stores and, in fact, practitioners have been trained to always explain that the remedy should not be considered as a guarantee of prevention of malaria.”

However, at the request of the MHRA, Neal’s Yard Remedies withdrew the product from sale on 17 April 2008. “We are pleased that Neal’s Yard Remedies have complied with our request and removed this product from the market,” said Carter.

According to the BBC’s Inside Out: Homeopathy and Malaria, aired last month, presenter Janine Jansen was sold homeopathic remedies in the Exeter store and advised she could use them to deal with malaria. Neal’s Yard Remedies responded in an online statement accusing the BBC of ‘naughty editing’ regarding the show’s interview with Curtis, adding: “a lot of what she was trying to say was not shown.”