As promised, I emailed the authors of that Cochrane Review of homeopathy for reducing the side effects of cancer treatment. I asked them to clarify why they had included the Pommier et al trial of Calendula ointment - a decision which attracted some criticism. Their (very prompt) response included this statement:
"...We contacted the manufacturer of the calendula ointment and they confirmed that it had been prepared in accordance with the German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia, therefore the trial met our inclusion criteria..."
Which is a reference to the inclusion criteria as set out in their paper, i.e.:
Homeopathy (also spelt homoeopathy) was defined, for the purpose of this review, as the use of homeopathic medicines prepared in accordance with officially recognised homeopathic pharmacopoeias. Where there was doubt about the classification of the medicine, we contacted authors or the product manufactures for confirmation. Any homeopathic prescribing strategy was included (pp. 3-4).
So ...
