Under a new German law, statutory health insurance funds will no longer be able to reimburse homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine. From 2027, the ban will then be extended permanently to include any form of supplementary cover or supplementary insurance policy that provides for the funding of such treatments

Bills on the professional recognition of practitioners of Japanese massage have been tabled in Parliament. The problem, however, is that the two bills incorporate a vitalistic conception of the human body, based on invisible balances, self-healing capacities and benefits enshrined in law. Thus, the legislation takes precedence over evidence 

Some draft bills aim to secure parliamentary recognition of the ‘therapeutic value’ of complementary therapies. However, leading scientific assessments have never found evidence of efficacy superior to that of a placebo: legislation can regulate the sale, use and funding of a product, but it cannot prove that it cures a disease

The approval of the amendment to reinstate struck-off healthcare professionals and the discussions with representatives of homeopathy regarding a review of the regulations demonstrate that when an electoral community is sufficiently united, the majority appears willing to grant it institutional recognition, even at the cost of undermining the scientific criteria put in place to protect public health