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FDA Confirms Toxicity of Homeopathic Baby Products; Maker Refuses To Recall (arstechnica.com)
Last year in November, the Federal Trade Commission issued an enforcement policy statement that requires over-the-counter (OTC) homeopathic drugs and product makers to disclose in their advertisement and labeling that there is no evidence that homeopathic products are effective. At around the same time the FTC issued the statement, the Food and Drug Administration was investigating homeopathic teething gels and tablets, which may have been improperly diluted, thus causing serious harm to infants. The FDA investigated 10 infant deaths and more than 400 reports of seizures, fever, and vomiting and confirmed Friday that belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, was the prime suspect. When the FDA notified the products' maker, Hyland's, the company would not agree to recall the products. Ars Technica reports: Hyland's has been defensive since the FDA first opened the investigation last September. In an October press release, the company referred to agency's warnings as a source of "confusion" and assured consumers that the products are safe and effective. Still, the company discontinued distribution in the U.S. The National Center for Homeopathy, which has ties with Hyland's, slammed the FDA, calling the agency's warnings "arbitrary and capricious." In an "action alert," the organization went on to suggest that warning was prompted by "groups interested in seeing homeopathy destroyed" and led to "fear mongering" by the media. As before, the FDA is urging parents to avoid the homeopathic teething products and toss any already purchased. The FDA does not evaluate or approve the homeopathic products, which have no proven health benefit. Belladonna is an active ingredient in those products, but is supposed to be heavily diluted. Homeopaths belief that ailments and diseases can be cured by trace amounts or "memories" of toxic substances that mimic or cause similar symptoms. Homeopathy is a pseudoscience that has been squarely debunked, offering no more than a placebo effect. In its announcement Friday, the FDA said it had found inconsistent amounts of belladonna in Hyland's products. Some of the amounts were "far exceeding" what was intended.
I'm reminded of an old IRC quote: The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
Modern society has made the world such an overwhelmingly safe place compared to earlier periods in human history that the universe has to find new ways to work in natural selection. It says homeopathic right on the box, and I would imagine that this was something the parents sought out and wanted to buy. So just let them remove themselves from the gene pool or just regulate who gets to be a parent because I have a feeling that single regulation would remove the need for a lot of other stuff.
I am a father of 8, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence that Hyland's teething tablets are effective, and I want to continue to use them for my baby. ...
Um, shouldn't your focus be on contraceptives?
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
Is that where you start out dissolving one baby per unit of inert carrier fluid, and then perform series of repeated dilutions until you are left with a substance that statistically contains no atoms of the original baby?
Does this have anything to do with the making of baby oil? I've always been afraid to know what happens inside those factories.
There used to be this great Seattle-based comedy show called Almost Live (a sort of low-budget SNL), and they had this really hilarious skit with this tobacco company executive insisting "Smoking is completely safe. Leading chiropractors have found it in fact puts a protective lining on the lungs!"
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Make sure you bleed them regularly, to keep their humors in balance and drain off toxic blood.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I see no shortage of dickheads either.