Homeopathy in emergency medicine

Background: Use of homeopathy is not frequently reported in critically ill patients. We describe our experience treating such patients homeopathically in the emergency room, on the wards, and in the intensive care unit of conventional hospitals in Austria and Israel. Methods: We describe a case series of patients treated in the ER for multiple casualty incidents, two cases reports of remarkable cures in the ICU, and two RCT's demonstrating the efficacy of homeopathy in septic and intubated patients. Results: A case series documents favorable results in homeopathic treatment of patients in the ER and wards after multiple casualty incidents. Two case reports narrate remarkable homeopathic cures to imminently terminal illnesses. Finally, homeopathy was demonstrated effective as compared with placebo in improving long term survival in severely ill septic patients and in hastening extubation ICU patients. Conclusions: Our report suggests that homeopathy may be applicable even for critically ill patients. We discuss the obstacles encountered, including a dearth of tools for successful homeopathic prescription in these situations, suspicion and lack of cooperation by patients and conventional colleagues, and the highly suppressive nature of concomitant conventional therapies. We suggest the development of algorithms and other tools to aid rapid homeopathic prescription in critical care patients, and discuss the importance of familiarizing physicians and medical students with homeopathy in order to facilitate communication and cooperation between these complementary branches of medicine.