Massive Recall of Homeopathic Kids' Products Spotlights Dubious Health Claims (arstechnica.com)

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement that the homeopathic drug company King Bio is recalling 32 of its children's pain-relievers. According to the FDA, a "small percentage" of those products tested positive for bacterial contamination during regular, random testing by King Bio. From a report: The announcement does not provide any specifics about the contamination or potential risks. However, the North Carolina-based manufacturer behind the recall, King Bio, issued a similar announcement back in July. At that time, the company recalled three other products after an FDA inspection found batches contaminated with the bacteria Pseudomonas brenneri, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Burkholderia multivorans. Pseudomonas brenneri is a bacterium recently found in natural mineral waters, and its clinical significance is murky. However, Pseudomonas fluorescens is known to be an opportunistic pathogen, causing blood infections, and Burkholderia multivorans can cause infections in people with compromised immune systems and cystic fibrosis. It was also recently found to be a rare but emerging cause of meningitis. King Bio did not respond to Ars' request for comment on the contamination, its potential source, or the company's actions to prevent further contamination.

Homeopathic products, as Ars readers are likely familiar, are those based on a pseudoscientific belief that substances generating similar symptoms to an ailment can cure that ailment, aka the "law of similars." The potentially dangerous substances are generally safe to consume because homeopaths believe that "vigorous shaking" and excessive dilution -- often to the point where no atoms of the original substance remain -- make them more effective. As King Bio puts it, this preparation "potentizes" the substances. King Bio told the FDA that the items of concern were a group of various over-the-counter remedies produced between August 1, 2017 and April 2018.

Comments

It's funnier than that

[rsilvergun]

or more tragic. Homeopaths believe "Like cures like", "Water has memory" and that the more you dilute something the more effective it is at curing. So they put poison in water and dilute it until the poison is gone. Then they sell that as "medicine".

Sometimes they screw up and don't dilute enough. When they do that kids get sick and die. It's usually the kids since adults can often survive (being older).

That said, most homeopaths aren't idiots, they're desperate. Especially in America. We don't guarantee healthcare. Lots of people can't afford it. So they turn to something to give them hope. It doesn't help that homeopathy is sold in packaging that looks like medicine and thanks to easily bought off politicians can make medical claims with a wink and a nod. There is the occasional person who buys homeopathy thinking they just bought real medicine because it's often sold right next to real medicine and in packaging that makes it look like real medicine.

But it's mostly desperate people without healthcare looking for hope. Most human being can't live without hope, so they'll take it where ever they can find it. They're easy prey.

Re:It's funnier than that

[shess]

That said, most homeopaths aren't idiots, they're desperate. Especially in America. We don't guarantee healthcare. Lots of people can't afford it. So they turn to something to give them hope.

But it's mostly desperate people without healthcare looking for hope. Most human being can't live without hope, so they'll take it where ever they can find it. They're easy prey.

This implies that it's because they can't afford "proper" healthcare. I've spent my adult life working with people who's employers provide excellent insurance as a perk, and I can tell you that it's not a problem with affordability. People don't want to go to a doctor and hear that there isn't a pill to solve their problem, real or imagined. They want solutions, and if the medical profession doesn't have the solution they want, they'll find an alternative.

Re:Logically, homeopathy can work for some disease

[JBMcB]

It doesn't matter that homeopathy is outside of science when health to a large part is outside of science.

To paraphrase Pauli, that statement is so incorrect it isn't even wrong.
Keep reading this site until you understand better, please.
https://sciencebasedmedicine.o...

All negations of homeopathy are based on chemistry but you are not a sack of chemical reactions gone wrong.

"Negations of homeopathy" are based on a very facile understanding of chemistry and the causes of disease. Your body is a sack of unbelievably complicated chemical reactions operating under ideally homeostatic conditions. It's common for those processes to go out of whack from time to time. Usually your body can fix those processes itself. Sometimes it needs help. That's what modern medicine is for.