Decision made - Medical Chamber strikes Homoeopathy further education in Southwest
In the Southwest, there will be no more Homoeopathy further education for doctors given by the state medical chamber's will. It will be removed from the further education ordinance, decided the chamber's representative assembly. The Social Ministry must approve the corresponding statutory amendment, said a ministry spokeswoman. The formalities review has begun. If everything goes as planned, there is nothing more opposing the removal of the further education.
The debate on this topic has been heated for two years. In July 2022, the representative assembly had already voted to remove the additional qualification Homoeopathy from the further education ordinance in Baden-Württemberg. Social Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens) called it "the absolutely wrong signal."
The German Central Association of Homoeopathic Doctors (DZVhA) expressed indignation. "The Medical Chamber Baden-Württemberg is taking away a requested and established healing method from further education," it said in a statement. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach welcomed the decision, however. The SPD politician wrote on the platform X that there was nothing to learn for doctors in homoeopathy.
Further education qualifications are special qualifications and generally do not set a prerequisite for diagnosis and therapy, the chamber stated after the decision on Saturday. The homoeopathy further education should no longer be offered. A review of the chamber's proportionality did not raise any concerns earlier. The upcoming review of the amended statutes by the Social Ministry is purely formal in nature, the spokeswoman said. It has nothing to do with any contentious issues.
The treatment of patients in Baden-Württemberg with homoeopathic methods and means will neither be restricted nor banned, emphasized the chamber. Doctors who have already completed or are still in the process of completing the further education are not affected. The DZVhA emphasized that the removal does not mean that homoeopathy is no longer reimbursed by statutory health insurance.
The homoeopathy further education existed besides in Baden-Württemberg only still in Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. The Federal Medical Chamber had also spoken out for the removal in 2022.
Lucha was against the abolition. Baden-Württemberg is the land of natural healing and homoeopathy is an important part of healthcare for many people, he said.
However, the effectiveness of homoeopathy is controversial. These medicines are usually made from plant, mineral, or animal substances. Then they are diluted according to certain rules - sometimes so long that the preparations no longer contain any active substance. There are no scientific proofs yet that homoeopathy works, it was stated in the chamber's proportionality review.
- Despite the decision by the Medical Chamber of Baden-Württemberg to remove Homoeopathy further education from their ordinance, Manfred Lucha, the Social Minister from Stuttgart and a Green party member, strongly opposed the move, referring to Baden-Württemberg as a "land of natural healing."
- The German Central Association of Homoeopathic Doctors (DZVhA) criticized the decision, stating that Manfred Lucha's Medical Chamber is taking away a requested and established healing method from further education in Baden-Württemberg.
- Under the new rules, doctors in Baden-Württemberg will no longer be able to pursue Homoeopathy further education, but they will still be able to practice Homoeopathy as long as they have completed or are still completing their previous education, and it will continue to be reimbursed by statutory health insurance.
- While Manfred Lucha and the DZVhA argue for the importance and effectiveness of Homoeopathy in medicine, critics, such as Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and his SPD party, disagree, citing the lack of scientific proofs that Homoeopathy works.
