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If calculated by packages sold, [homeopathic remedies] amount to approximately 4-5% of total sales. All natural remedies in this country are imported, and 95% come from either Dr. Peythner or the French firm Boiron.
...there are over 10,000 alternative practitioners of all sorts, including 1,000 trained in homeopathy.
... up to 10% of Czechs now use homeopaths, compared to about 12-14% in Germany and France.
... the only two alternative methods recognized by Czech law are acupuncture and homeopathy, which helps maintain professionalism since only licensed doctors may perform them. Also, as of this year homeopathy is recognized as real medicine, sold only at pharmacies, which also makes for better control.
Čapek [a pediatric surgeon] says the future of alternative medicine largely depends on the results of the next election, as the ČSSD [Czech Republic] has voiced a plan to ban the practice or advertising of all non-scientifically proven healing methods. Ivan David, ČSSD expert on healthcare, says that even acupuncture and homeopathy, though they've been around for hundreds of years, are still unreliable. He adds that they're nothing more than a "commercially successful fraud by which some are earning millions."
Full text: The Prague Tribune, "Alternative Medicine: What's Up Doc", 1998
