A double header this week from Science Based Medicine. I'm sure there were many other fabulous stories....was just too busy a week for me to read much.
Science Based Medicine on homeopathic bullying.
A second hit from Science Based Medicine - this one from Scott Gavura on what he's calling "Gavura's Law" - the Godwin's law of alternative medicine discussion.
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Heres a story to think about! From the Independent newspaper in the UK, "diet book for girls as young as six"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/diet-book-for-girls-as-young-as-six-provokes-outrage-from-doctors-2340257.html
A class-action complaint has been filed against the manufacturers of Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic product widely claimed to be a flu remedy. The complaint charges that the product (a) is nothing more than a sugar pill, (b) has no impact on the flu or any symptoms that accompany it, and (c) contains no molecules of its allegedly active ingredient. http://www.casewatch.org/civil/boiron/oscillococcinum/complaint.shtml
ReplyDeleteThe suit, filed in California against Boiron, Inc., Boiron USA, Inc., and Laboratories Boiron, asks the court to halt the challenged claims and award damages for violating consumer protections laws. The "active ingredient" in Oscillococcinum is prepared by incubating small amounts of a freshly killed duck's liver and heart for 40 days. The resultant solution is then filtered, freeze-dried, rehydrated, diluted 1/100 200 times (shaking it inbetween each dilution), and impregnated into sugar granules. If a single molecule of the original substance could survive the dilution, its concentration would be 1 in 100200-a number vastly greater than the estimated number of molecules in the universe. http://www.homeowatch.org/o
Last year the FDA and FTC jointly warned a distributor that it was illegal to advertise Oscillococcinum "for fast relief of flu infection symptoms." http://www.casewatch.org/fdawarning/prod/2010/homeopathy_for_health.shtml
The Newport Trial Group (http://trialnewport.com), which filed this suit, is pursuing a similar one against Boiron USA in connection with its marketing of Children's ColdCalm, a homeopathic product claimed to relieve sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus pain, headaches, and sore throat. http://www.casewatch.org/civil/boiron/coldcalm/complaint.pdf In July, a federal court judge denied a motion to dismiss that case on grounds that the FDA has primary jurisdiction and the court should defer to the government's enforcement powers. http://www.casewatch.org/civil/boiron/coldcalm/dismissal_order_ruling.pdf After noting that the FDA has not required that homeopathic products meet efficacy standards, the judge ruled that jurisdiction is proper because the agency has largely abdicated any role it might have had in creating such standards.
Science-based medicine is surely the only way to go; there is no other valid, verifiable approach. Unfortunately, however, this whole domain is a minefield for the consumer, not only as regards homeopathy but also with respect to conventional medicine prescribing drugs ostensibly approved by the responsible regulatory agencies upon whose good word consumers (and doctors) depend.
ReplyDeleteThalidomide and Vioxx are not nightmarish isolated exceptions; they are part of a very bad and extensive lot of drugs that had been floated out onto the market following regulatory/medical approval over the course of many years. Some others that might also be mentioned are Seldane, Baycol, Bextra, Cylert, Duract, Hismanal-D, Lotronex, Palladone, Pondimin, . . . the list goes on. Some caused the loss of innocent lives or, at the very least, unwarranted suffering. The article from the LA Times here - http://biopsychiatry.com/bigpharma/fda.htm - gives a shuddering intro to some of this.
This does not automatically sideline conventional medicine in favour of homeophathic, but it does ring the bell on politically-based (as distinct from scientifically-based) drug decisions that affect entire populations. I am all for SBM but would suggest, to use the common French saying, that such journals should poussez, mais poussez égal - point out stupidities forthrightly by all means, but point fairly in all directions.
Obviously Boiron is an aberration. And how about the others, including some who would seem dearer to the FDA's heart?
For instance, the FDA very actively eliminated the commercial use of stevia, a noncaloric herb, native to Paraguay, that has been used as a sweetener for centuries. Why was it not granted GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status? No science involved in the decision here, I fear; but lots of market share at stake. I am not a journalist, but I smell a rat here.
That old precept of the Romans still applies here in full force: Caveat Emptor. Let the Buyer Beware.