Learn more...

Recently, a tabloid media outlet published a guest article by an author who lists “Deloitte Legal” in his name under the title “Shrinkflation in salmon is considered misleading—shouldn't the same apply to homeopathy?” It contains sentences such as “Perhaps salmon could also serve as a raw material for a homeopathic remedy – perhaps to protect against injuries from fishing hooks and nets and frostbite?” Attentive readers may experience a sense of déjà vu, recalling a report in the same tabloid media outlet entitled “AI garbage: Deloitte must return money to Australia because report was full of AI hallucinations” (the presumption of innocence applies). As a second déjà vu, the guest article is reminiscent of the AI garbage just quoted and, for the informed reader, evokes associations with a minister's doctoral thesis, which contains meaningless sentences such as “Assumptions are like barnacles on the side of a boat; they slow us down.” The fact that the guest author admits his ignorance about the carrier medium in homeopathic medicines places him seamlessly among the large number of fanatical critics of homeopathy. Conclusion: AI cannot replace reading and learning.

The results of the study, namely a better quality of life and a longer survival of patients with very advanced lung cancer, have been impressively confirmed by an in-depth scientific investigation. I am delighted that the work has now been fully rehabilitated. This opens up new perspectives for lung cancer patients in cooperation between conventional and homeopathic medicine.

Frass M, et al. Homeopathic Treatment as an Add-On Therapy May Improve Quality of Life and Prolong Survival in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Eine prospektive, randomisierte, placebokontrollierte, doppelblinde, dreiarmige, multizentrische Studie. Oncologist. 2020;25:e1930-e1955.

Study withdrawn due to overqualification

Below, I describe the reasons that ultimately led to the withdrawal of the article on improving quality of life and prolonging survival in patients with small cell lung cancer from the renowned journal TheOncologist.

Summary:

After two years of meticulous review, the validity of our data was confirmed in September 2024. Then, on July 29, 2025, while I was on vacation, I received a surprise email from Prof. Susan Bates, editor of TheOncologist journal. Below is the English translation of this email:

I was asked to respond within 3 (three!) days, otherwise the article would be withdrawn. I replied within 2 days. To this day, I still don't understand what is meant by “one-armed study,” as I always compare 2 groups as a clinician. I was also surprised by the question about the use of homeopathic medicines (HMPs) in my private practice.

Even after sending another email, I received no response for about 2.5 months. Suddenly, I received an email dated October 24, 2025, informing me that the withdrawal had now been confirmed. The reason given was that the study might not be reproducible due to its individualized nature. Of course it would be, since several hundred Austrian doctors in the respective societies had been trained in classical homeopathy to date AND students at the Medical University of Vienna had been trained in classical homeopathy until 2018. Apart from the fact that none of the authors ever “marketed” homeopathic medicines at the respective clinics, the assumption that there is a conflict of interest at a price of around €15 per vial seems ridiculous. Neither I nor any of the co-authors ever received a commission from the pharmacy; on the contrary, the study medication had to be paid for.

The data, which was verified as correct in September 2024, was not questioned in any way.

The reason for the retraction therefore lies in the overqualification of the homeopaths, who have completed this additional medical training and have mastered the method.

Conclusion: The data from the study are correct, as they were thoroughly checked by the journal several years ago. The abstract of the study can therefore of course still be cited:

Frass M. Additive Homeopathy Improves Quality of Life and Prolongs Survival in Patients With NSCLC: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Three-Arm, Multicenter Study.  World Health Congress, Prague, Czech Republic, Oct 3–5, 2025. Available from: https://www.whc2025prague.com/program-en/michael-frass2

He was known nationally and internationally as the founder of the Austrian Society of Anesthesiology, and in 1963 the first Austrian intensive care unit was established. But what distinguished him from others, apart from his many achievements and honors, was that decades ago he sat down with me, the little inventor, and explained to me how we could technically design our invention using double lumen tubes such as the Carlen tube. It was not yet foreseeable that the Combitube, which was still completely unknown at the time, would develop into a world invention. Unusual: an Austrian inventor is supported in his own country.

As a top representative of the Medical University of Vienna, Prof. Mayrhofer was curious and positive.

We are losing a great man with a great mind and a good heart!

Results:

- 5 of the 6 MA included an effect estimate for all included studies. All 5 showed significant positive effects of homeopathy compared to placebo.

- 4 MAs included an effect estimate after restriction to studies with higher methodological quality.

- In 3 of these 4 MAs the significant positive effects of homeopathy were maintained, in 1 MA the positive effect was now not significant.

- The methodological quality of the homeopathy studies was similar to that of other clinical studies with the same design, from a comparable time period and assessed according to the same criteria.

- The quality of the overall evidence for positive homeopathic effectiveness in this systematic review was also similar to systematic reviews of other interventions from a comparable time period and graded using the same assessment tool (GRADE).

- Criticisms of the study were found to be inaccurate.

- The results are consistent with laboratory experiments with partially reproducible effects of homeopathic medicines in physico-chemical, in vitro, plant-based and animal-based test systems.

Hamre HJ, Glockmann A, von Ammon K, Riley DS, Kiene H. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomized placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Syst Rev. 2023 Oct 7;12(1):191. doi: 10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2. PMID: 37805577; PMCID: PMC10559431.

His greatness was demonstrated, among other things, by the fact that he organized and moderated a theme evening "Homeopathy - an acceptable healing method today?" at the Society of Friends of the Austrian Academy of Sciences on 26.2.2019. This shows the foresight and ability to tolerate ambiguity that is unfortunately very often sorely lacking in today's academic and media world.

We will miss him. People of this character are rare.

Former university professor Dr. Michael Frass
President, Ö. Umbrella Organization for Holistic Medicine

Foto Credit: (c) Florian Stecher - http://www.florianstecher.at/

A study* just published in a top medical journal around the team of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Frass in the AKH Vienna, as well as in the former Otto Wagner Hospital (now Hospital North), the Hospital Lienz and the Elisabethinenspital in Linz examined patients with far advanced lung cancer (non-small cell lung cancer: NSCLC) with regard to quality of life and survival time with additional homeopathy. It is well known that chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not always well tolerated, especially the gastrointestinal tract often suffers under chemotherapy.

Patients were now given homeopathic medicines in addition to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, selected after careful discussion. The patients were divided into 2 groups, and received double-blind (= that is, neither doctor nor patient knew whether the real or the placebo was used) homeopathy or a placebo, a 3rd group was studied only as a control without any homeopathic accompaniment. The PATIENTS WITH HOMEOPATHY showed IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE AS WELL AS IMPROVED SUBJECTIVE FEELING, furthermore chronic fatigue, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, insomnia, loss of appetite, pain and shortness of breath.

Even surprisingly for the authors of the study, LONGER SURVIVAL TIME WAS ALSO SHOWN IN THE HOMEOPATHIC PATIENTS compared to the patients with the placebo as well as to the control patients. There was no significant difference between the patients on placebo and the control patients. This study, conducted according to international standards, has been published in a conventional journal (The Oncologist). The good thing about the study: HOMEOPATHY IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN PLACEBO! HOMEOPATHY IS EXCELLENT WITH CONVENTIONAL THERAPY!  

* Frass M, Lechleitner P, Gründling C, Pirker C, Grasmuk-Siegl E, Domayer J, Hochmair M, Gaertner K, Duscheck C, Muchitsch I, Marosi C, Schumacher M, Zöchbauer-Müller S, Manchanda RK, Schrott A, Burghuber O. 

Homeopathic Treatment as an Add-On Therapy May Improve Quality of Life and Prolong Survival in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Three-Arm, Multicenter Study.

Oncologist. 2020 Oct 3. doi: 10.1002/onco.13548. online ahead of print.

It is known that CORONA (COVID-19) is a new, extremely dangerous and life-threatening viral disease that has caused a worldwide pandemic.

Homeopaths from Austria have investigated in a scientific study whether an additional accompanying individualized homeopathic therapy could positively influence the course of patients who had been hospitalized because of CORONA.

Thirteen patients with CORONA infection were hospitalized and treated conventionally according to the latest medical standards. The average age was 73 years, and the oldest patient was 91 years old. Six patients (46.2%) were critically ill and required treatment in the intensive care unit. The encouraging result was that twelve patients (92.3%) were discharged without sequelae after an average of 14 days. The average stay in the ICU of the 5 surviving patients was 19 days. A single patient who had to be admitted in the advanced stage of a septic (severe febrile) illness had died. Shortly after the start of the respective homeopathic treatment, there was a marked improvement in clinical and also subjective symptoms in the 12 surviving patients.

These observations suggest that complementary homeopathic therapy may be helpful in CORONA in addition to conventional treatment.

Regarding these observations, an Israeli-Austrian double-blind, placebo-controlled study had been planned, but could not be conducted due to overload of nursing staff and lack of resources. Currently, the authors are writing a paper on the long-term effects of CORONA (Long COVID-19), and excellent results are also emerging.

The journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice has an impact factor of 1.701, so it is a good, internationally recognized, scientific journal."

*Takacs M, Frass M, Walder G, Fibert P, Rottensteiner M, Glück W, Lechleitner P, Oberbaum M, Leisser I, Chandak K, Panhofer P, Weiermayer P. Adjunctive homeopathic treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients (COVIHOM): A retrospective case series. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2021;44:101415. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101415. epub 2021 May 11. PMID: 33989861.

This disease, first described in the United States in 1987, is synonymous with periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, cervical adenitis, i.e., recurrent episodes of fever, aphthae in the mouth, pharyngitis, and inflamed lymph nodes in the neck.

Symptoms
The 4 - year - old child suffers from fever episodes, which start since one year regularly first every 4 weeks, since some months every 2 weeks with abruptly rising fever over 40°C, which recedes with antibiotic and antipyretic therapy only after 4 to 5 days. So the last time the child was always free of fever only 9 days.

Treatment with the homeopathic therapy
Two weeks after the start of the homeopathic therapy, there is again an episode of fever up to 40°C, which this time disappeared after 2 days under homeopathic therapy alone. After another fever attack, which again disappeared under homeopathic therapy, there were no more fever attacks.

Of course, this is an individual case - in homeopathy there are only individual cases - every person is special. It cannot be said that homeopathy is effective in PFAPA, but in this case the syndrome stopped immediately after the start of homeopathic treatment.

Dr. Michael Frass helps you as a specialist in Austria
If you want to have a homeopathic consultation or just want to inform yourself, Dr. Michael Frass is your contact person. If you still have questions about homeopathy, please contact Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Frass in Vienna. He is a specialist for internal medicine & internal intensive care.