The Food and Drug Administration is planning to more aggressively regulate homeopathic drugs that are potentially harmful and unproven, reversing nearly three decades of policy.
Homeopathic remedies use ingredients that can be dangerous, but are so diluted they’re said to be safe and even cure illnesses. The FDA decided in 1988 it would not use all the enforcement authority within its power to regulate such products.
However, within the past decade, more people have experimented with homeopathic remedies. The once-small industry has ballooned to $3 billion, the FDA said. In proposed guidance, the agency said it’s changing its stance because as the industry has grown, and so has the risk.
