So-called placebo-symptoms in a homeopathic drug proving (HDP) – criteria of exclusion or inclusion? – A change of paradigm?

Until today, in the course of a HDP, only the new or changed symptoms of the verum-group of provers are considered and not the symptoms of provers who had taken raw globules that had not been moistened by the proving substance (placebo-provers). The changes, hereby, are attributed to the proving-situation or regarded as a result of expectations and are not put into context with the proving substance. They are classified as worthless and are omitted in the further analysis.

The reasons for these considerations by the authors are regularly observed clear proving-symptoms in the group of placebo-provers. These are casually, and in part even more distinct as in the verum-group.

During the presentation the authors show a listing of symptoms that occurred in placebo-provers in comparison with symptoms of the corresponding verum-group of a HDP (sources: provings conducted by the authors and some examples of other proving-coordinators). It will be demonstrated that symptoms of placebo-provers are thoroughly comparable in quality, with those of the verum-provers and in some cases surpass them in completeness and well-observed aspects.

Open for discussion remains the question: what is the significance of the clearly observable agent in the proving-phase – as well as during therapy. The hypothesis that it could be something fixed inside the globules,which could not be proven until now, should, however, be increasingly questioned.

Also, the increasing legal regulation of clinical trials in Europe has to be questioned, and, furthermore the view of its usefulness.