Hyland's holds press conference on homeopathic remedies

LOS ANGELES One day before the Food and Drug Administration meets to examine the safety and effectiveness of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for infants and young children, Hyland’s Wednesday morning hosted a media conference call to highlight homeopathy remedies as a potential alternative to conventional OTC medicines.

Iris Bell, professor of family and community medicine, psychiatry and psychology at the College of Public Health of the University of Arizona College, noted there were several advantages to homeopathic remedies, including “low cost and an excellent safety record over its lengthy history,” she said. “Many people tend to confuse homeopathy as an alternative” to conventional medicine with the full gamut of alternative remedies, including herbal remedies. “In the United States, homeopathic [remedies] are regulated by the FDA” as drugs, Bell said.

Homeopathic remedies are safe and effective, even for children under the age of two, commented Timothy Fior, vice president of the Illinois Homeopathic Medical Association. “Homeopathy is very conducive to self-care,” he said, noting that there aren’t the same overdosing safety concerns with homeopathic remedies as there potentially are with synthetic medicines.

“The voluntary withdrawal of household names in children’s cold relief may cause many parents to believe that their children will have no alternatives in the alleviation of cold symptoms,” Hyland’s stated. “On the contrary, safe, all-natural options exist in the form of homeopathic medicines.”