Homeopathy-Pharma against freedom of expression?

Pharma against freedom of expression? Boiron's homemade PR crisis

28/09/2011

In July of this year, Italian blogger Samuele Riva published critical articles on homeopathy in two articles on his blog (www.blogzero.it). In the articles titled „Homeopathy - myths and legends“ Riva reported that the French company Boiron, the world's largest manufacturer of homeopathic medicines, markets a drug called oscillococcinum® against influenza, which does not contain any pharmacologically active molecule of the mother tincture. Basically, this is nothing new - this is the case with all homeopathic remedies above a potency of D23. A picture of the product was added to Riva by the subtitle: „Seriously hurt the intelligence of those who buy it.“ Not uncommon for bloggers, Riva embellished his remarks „bold“ Formulations and the false factual claim that there is no scientific evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathy. Boiron threatened the blogger with an action for defamation after attempting a personal conversation failed.

As a response, Boiron was confronted with a fundamentally positive phenomenon of the digital information age: content on the Internet, which should be legally suppressed, spread rapidly and subsequently attract a lot of attention (the so-called Streisand effect). Before the threat of the lawsuit, about 150 users called Rivas texts. After the threat became public, other blogs in different languages, followed by the British Medical Journal and Handelsblatt Online, first reported the case. Riva did only what some bloggers occasionally do: he presented homeopathy from the perspective of a layman, rubbing against their lack of plausibility - especially potentiation - without having knowledge of the study or methodological expertise.

The net resonance in the tenor of „Pharmaceutical company suppresses freedom of expression“ Boiron is likely to have caused a significant and homemade image damage. Homeopathy critics used the case systematically to make online sentiment against homeopathy. Although Boiron writes in a recent statement: „We are not opposed to freedom of speech. We just want to say that.“ The fact that the drug manufacturer did not expect this criticism, speaks for a lack of press and public relations work, which does not have the high good of freedom of expression in view and underestimated the network dynamics. „A dialogue is always better than a legal confrontation“, says Cornelia Bajic, chairwoman of the German Central Association of Homeopathic Doctors (DZVhÄ). The DZVhÄ has created the homeopathy blog (www.dzvhae-homoeopathie-blog.de). „We invite the company Boiron and Samuele Riva to hold a constructive discussion on the topic on our science blog“, so Bajic. (DZVhÄ)

Picture: Günther Gumhold