The comparison with conventional medicine was meaningless. Doubts remain about the opaque, unpublished criteria used in the review, including the definition of ‘higher quality’.

This reconstruction casts serious doubts on the Lancet review, showing that it was based on a series of hidden judgments unfavourable to homeopathy.

An open assessment of the current evidence suggests that homeopathy is probably effective for a number of conditions including allergies, upper respiratory tract infections and flu, but more research is desperately needed.

Prof Matthias Egger of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Berne, who led The Lancet trial, declined to comment on these findings.