Randi once said that by homeopathic reasoning you could take your keys, throw them in a river, walk downstream a mile, scoop up a few ounces of water and use it to unlock your front door.
I mostly agree. Most homeopathic OTC products have never gone through any scientific testing and even if they have the general public is mostly uneducated about them (which can be dangerous). The example I’ve always given people refers to the FDA warning. Most, if not all, of these products have a warning that states the product has not been rated by the FDA. This means that no one is regulating or concerned with what actually goes into these products. You could literally be swallowing a capsule of sawdust, a very expensive capsule of sawdust.
I also know that regardless of what recommendations I make to a patient or what education I give them, they are going to buy whatever their co-worker’s, best friend’s grandma saw on TV. And they’re going to accuse me of over charging them for their very effective scientifically tested prescription medication. So what are you gonna do?
. . . but when patients are prescribed the latest, “greatest” drugs that they can’t possibly afford and insurance won’t cover, the decision to go “homeopathic” is a little more understandable.
I’m not defending the manufacturers of these placebos, just pointing out they don’t necessarily corner the drug market when it comes to consumer deception. . .
as a employee (but not a pharmacist) of one of the retail drug stores he mentioned, we do all that anyways sans the sticker. I have never recommended a homeopathic solution to any customer, nor have I witnessed a pharmacist pushing a homeopathic solution to an inquiring customer. Of course, I don’t think that the problem is in the retail drug stores–The majority of people I know who buy homeopathic pills are the “new age medication” type of people, and I have yet to hear of them going to a mainstream drug store–they usually go to those mom&pop organic shops for that stuff, where they sell those candles that somehow drain earwax out of your ear.
btw that wasn’t in defense of the homeopathy industry–that was saying that a lot of professionals in the retail drug store world don’t actually recommended them
Comments
8 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.I love James Randi! And I love you, too, Cynical C! Thanks.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Randi rocks.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Randi once said that by homeopathic reasoning you could take your keys, throw them in a river, walk downstream a mile, scoop up a few ounces of water and use it to unlock your front door.
Like or Dislike:
12 
0
I mostly agree. Most homeopathic OTC products have never gone through any scientific testing and even if they have the general public is mostly uneducated about them (which can be dangerous). The example I’ve always given people refers to the FDA warning. Most, if not all, of these products have a warning that states the product has not been rated by the FDA. This means that no one is regulating or concerned with what actually goes into these products. You could literally be swallowing a capsule of sawdust, a very expensive capsule of sawdust.
I also know that regardless of what recommendations I make to a patient or what education I give them, they are going to buy whatever their co-worker’s, best friend’s grandma saw on TV. And they’re going to accuse me of over charging them for their very effective scientifically tested prescription medication. So what are you gonna do?
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
. . . but when patients are prescribed the latest, “greatest” drugs that they can’t possibly afford and insurance won’t cover, the decision to go “homeopathic” is a little more understandable.
I’m not defending the manufacturers of these placebos, just pointing out they don’t necessarily corner the drug market when it comes to consumer deception. . .
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Or when given scientifically proven drugs that a few years later are proven to cause heart failure.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
as a employee (but not a pharmacist) of one of the retail drug stores he mentioned, we do all that anyways sans the sticker. I have never recommended a homeopathic solution to any customer, nor have I witnessed a pharmacist pushing a homeopathic solution to an inquiring customer. Of course, I don’t think that the problem is in the retail drug stores–The majority of people I know who buy homeopathic pills are the “new age medication” type of people, and I have yet to hear of them going to a mainstream drug store–they usually go to those mom&pop organic shops for that stuff, where they sell those candles that somehow drain earwax out of your ear.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
btw that wasn’t in defense of the homeopathy industry–that was saying that a lot of professionals in the retail drug store world don’t actually recommended them
Like or Dislike:
1 
0