No, I'm not saying the people who did the study are backing away, I'm saying those who don't like the results can just say 'well that wasn't REAL prayer'. And this is the main problem with debating theism. The constant moving of goal posts. Sure, one set of rules for prayer were set at one time and can be used to invalidate the study, but fact is, no matter what 'configuration' is used for a prayer healing study, there will always be wriggle room, because we're working with thousands of years worth of nebulous, contradictory, half formed rules steeped in cultural taboo.
And this applies to Religion in science PERIOD, not just faith healing. You can't study what is not on a solid basis, and the foundations of prayer, faith healing, prophecy, speaking tongues and the like are on a basis of oil and jellybeans, not well laid concrete like actual science is.