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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.
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.
One time I forgot to take my homeopathic medicine and I overdosed.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Can we please cut the bullshit and call it what it is - "non-science". It's not "pseudo" anything. It's complete horseshit backed by no science. Stop giving these dumb motherfuckers credibility.
If you're going to peddle water as phony medicine, you should at least have the decency to sterilize the water and the container before you push it on your marks. And filter the water, for that matter. If it's not bacterial contamination, it's metals or whatever leeches out of the pipes or storage areas.
I'm in favor of regulating the entire sector out of existence, unless we just want homeopathy to be a form of social Darwinism, but I feel like that's unfair to the children of the idiots who buy into this bullshit. They'd probably just go back to crystals and magnets, though.
I will make one exception - arnica montana That is actually because it isn't really homeopathic.
It is an infusion of the flowers of the arnica Montana daisy in vodka or isopropyl alcohol, and used as a spray to eliminate pain. just keep it out of cuts.
And it works, performing a pretty good numbing effect, and smells pretty good - like fresly mown hay.
Living with daily pain, and being allergic to opioids, I need something to ease my poor abused joints.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
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.
Just what I need. This presents the perfect opportunity for me to market to these parents my latest book: 8 Do It Yourself Homeopathic Recipes You Can't Live Without
Here's a sneak peak at the book:
Table of Contents
1. Homeopathic Birth Control - page 1
2. Homeopathic Nausea Relief - page 1
3. Homeopathic Constipation Relief - page 1
4. Homeopathic Diarrhea Relief - page 1
5. Homeopathic Antacid - page 1
6. Homeopathic Plan B - page 1
7. Homeopathic Epidural - page 1
8. Homeopathic Sodium Thiopental - page 1
If you visit a homeopath for a non life-threatening condition and he listens to you and gives you something that cannot harm you and you get a sense of optimism and a sense of control that you are doing something to get well, it only helps your body do what it is supposed to do -- heal itself. Does it not? It doesn't matter that homeopathy is outside of science when health to a large part is outside of science.
All negations of homeopathy are based on chemistry but you are not a sack of chemical reactions gone wrong.
Homeopathy is to medicine what Donald Trump is to America.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.