Homeopathy reimbursement: Boiron will cut 646 jobs in France

While the delisting of homeopathy began on 1^er January in France, Boiron Laboratories, the world leader in homeopathic products, announced in a press release Wednesday, March 11 the elimination of 646 positions in the territory. That is about a quarter of their workforce in the country. Thus, 13 of the company’s 31 French sites will be closed.

This plan will only concern the French part of the approximately 3,700 employees who work for the group throughout the world. According to Boiron, it is necessary for “sustain the company and ensure its future and that of the remaining employees”.

“For two years, the virulent, unjustified and repeated attacks against homeopathy in France have weighed heavily on our company, which has seen its activity and its economic results decline sharply. While our production is 100% French and we achieve 56% of our turnover there, the brutal decision of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health to delist homeopathic medicines on the 1^er January 2021, constitutes a real break”explains the press release.

Consequently, the Montrichard factory (Loir-et-Cher), one of the three production sites in France, will close its doors. While 80 positions will be eliminated, the mayor deplores a real human tragedy. Twelve distribution sites located in Avignon, Belfort, Brest, Grenoble, Limoges, Niort, Paris-Bois d’Arcy, Paris-Ivry, Pau, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulon will also be wiped off the map. “We will do everything to limit the social impact of this reorganization project while respecting our social heritage”assures Boiron, however, announcing in passing the creation of 134 positions and the “reorganization of sales teams”.

Completely defund homeopathy in 2021

The laboratories therefore took this decision following the announcement by the French government to de-reimburse homeopathy, which represents almost 60% of its sales. During the debates, the laboratory had already announced that a delisting would threaten 1,000 jobs out of 2,500 in the country.

Since 1^er January 2020, homeopathy, which is very popular with the French, is no longer covered by more than 15%, compared to 30% last year. The objective is to reimburse it completely in 2021. According to Bercy, this measure would ultimately save 127 million euros.

This very controversial measure was voted after the transparency committee of the High Authority for Health (HAS) deemed the effectiveness of homeopathy “insufficient” following the analysis of nearly 300 studies and exchanges with trade unions. , homeopathic physicians, user associations and manufacturers. “No study has demonstrated the superiority in terms of efficacy (morbidity) of the homeopathic approach compared to conventional treatments or placebo.”, she declared. Me Patrice Spinosi, lawyer for Boiron laboratories, then denounced a “manifest error of assessment on the part of the government”.

Useless homeopathy against the coronavirus

A few weeks ago, the company also made headlines in the coronavirus crisis. While several politicians advised using homeopathy to protect against the epidemic, the American laboratory sector indicated that it in no way recommended the use of its products “for the treatment or prevention of symptoms related to coronavirus”.

“We must not make people believe that homeopathy would be a ‘miracle’ solution and thus take the risk of diverting some from the behavior to be adopted in this context”. Yes “certain homeopathic medicines are traditionally used to optimize the immunity of patients against various viral infections, so we cannot under any circumstances endorse the use of Oscillococcinum for the prevention or treatment of respiratory infections linked to the coronavirus”said a representative of France on France info.