Search Results for: homeopathy

Pharmacies, Professionalism and Homeopathy

/ Scott / 1 Comment

Retail pharmacies have a sugar pill problem. Homeopathic “remedies” look like conventional medicine when they’re stocked on pharmacy shelves, like the photo above. But unlike conventional medicine, homeopathic products don’t contain any “medicine” at all. They are effectively and sometimes literally sugar pills – placebos. Not surprisingly, there is convincing evidence to show that homeopathy … Continue reading Pharmacies, Professionalism and Homeopathy

Use of Homeopathy Kills Child

/ Scott / 41 Comments

I’ve written repeatedly that the decision to use homeopathy is a decision to do nothing at all. Homeopathy is an elaborate placebo system where “remedies” contain no medicinal ingredients and are effectively and literally sugar pills. Given there is no demonstrable medical effect from using homeopathy, I’ve argued strongly that the sale of homeopathy in … Continue reading Use of Homeopathy Kills Child

How to boost homeopathy sales? Don’t tell the customer it’s homeopathy

/ Scott / 13 Comments

The other day a parent asked me if she could give her 2-year-old Tylenol liquid along with some cough syrup she had purchased at the pharmacy. I was a bit surprised, as cough and cold products for young children have been pulled from pharmacy shelves for a few years given their lack of efficacy and … Continue reading How to boost homeopathy sales? Don’t tell the customer it’s homeopathy

How a pharmacy turned the cofounder of Wikipedia against homeopathy

/ Scott / 5 Comments

Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia, was given some bad advice by a pharmacy: Last week I was in a pharmacy (chemist) in London just around the corner from my apartment there.  I had a sore throat and cough and wanted to buy some soothing cough drops.  I did, buying a brand that contains benzocaine.  … Continue reading How a pharmacy turned the cofounder of Wikipedia against homeopathy

Do pharmacy regulators “get” homeopathy?

/ Scott / 18 Comments

It’s on almost every pharmacy’s shelves. I’ve written at length about the problems with homeopathy in pharmacies. In fact, it was the subject of my very first post, over three years ago, where I described how homeopathy is an elaborate placebo system, with “remedies” that contain no active ingredients. Homeopathy was “invented” in the late … Continue reading Do pharmacy regulators “get” homeopathy?

When homeopathy is approved as an insect repellent, there’s a serious regulatory problem

/ Scott / 5 Comments

Given their visibility in the pharmacy, a recurring topic of this blog are the category of products deemed “natural health products”. My philosophy towards their uses has changed over the years, and what was an “evidence-based” approach is now firmly a “science-based” approach. A central principle to science-based medicine or pharmacy is that all health … Continue reading When homeopathy is approved as an insect repellent, there’s a serious regulatory problem