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67 Comments
- Lefts, on 06/29/2009, -2/+26*Automatic* approval for homeopathic "medicine"?
Yeah, that's a big hole right there. - doctechnical, on 06/29/2009, -2/+22Homeopathic = no active ingredients. It's either distilled water or a sugar-pill. Since (according to the article) there were measurable amounts of active ingredients in Zicam, it lied with it's homeopathic labeling.
- trolleyfan, on 06/29/2009, -2/+20Alternative "medicines" should have to go through *exactly* the same tests that real...excuse me...*traditional* medicine does. If you're going to call yourself a medicine, or claim you have medical properties (and fudges like adding "may" or "has been used for" to your label don't get you out of this category), you should have to go through the *tests* medicine does...
...especially including *efficacy* - if it actually does nothing, then that'll be as much as you can charge for it too. - Wosat, on 06/29/2009, -4/+17Homeopathy => fraud
- s73v3r, on 06/29/2009, -0/+12I don't care if they sold a jar of pickled cow farts. If they're going to claim something has medicinal properties, then they should have to adhere to the same standards and testing that regular pharmaceuticals have to. Including showing that it actually works, and that the amount of chemicals in the substance is what they say it is (0 in the case of homeopathic medicine).
- s73v3r, on 06/29/2009, -2/+13Maybe Rush should switch to homeopathic OxyCotin.
- RickHavoc, on 06/29/2009, -3/+11The FDA approved Vioxx which caused around 30,000 deaths. FDA screening doesn't mean it's safe. The FDA has its own problems. Talk to your doctor. One who reads studies.
- skeptologic, on 06/29/2009, -0/+8Please watch the video of James Randi explaining why homeopathy is complete bunk:
http://skeptologic.com/2008/04/27/pseudoscience-on ...
Homeopaths and people who promote herbs and supplements get away with this crap because the public loves anything with the slogan "all natural" slapped on it, so not many are willing to challenge the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Under DSHEA anyone can sell any stupid crap they want with no proof of efficacy. It's wrong, dangerous, and should be repealed. Here are a couple of explanations:
http://skeptologic.com/2008/04/19/airborne-does-th ...
http://skeptologic.com/2008/04/25/100-all-natural- ... - ThinkFr33ly, on 06/29/2009, -4/+11First, Zicam is not homeopathic. It contains active ingredients... something that no homeopathic "remedy" contains.
While homeopathy is stupid, pre-scientific baloney, taking homeopathic remedies won't hurt you. They're water.
Regardless, herbal remedies and other alternative modalities *should* be regulated just like any other drug. - dusanmal, on 06/29/2009, -0/+6If they didn't lie. Apparently they did lie and there is a problem - not rally homeopathic.
- 10ofDiamonds, on 06/29/2009, -4/+10Thats because, homeopathic products are essentially all water. There are more drugs in a glass of water from your kitchen tap than in an entire Zicam factory.
- macromorgan, on 06/29/2009, -2/+8"But I've got a degree in Homeopathic Medicine!"
"You've got a degree in balogna!" *fire hose to the face* - ThinkFr33ly, on 06/29/2009, -2/+8Aspirin and aceteminaphin are regulated. Alternative crap like homeopathy and herbal remedies are not.
That is the problem. - 10ofDiamonds, on 06/29/2009, -1/+5but of Zinc? Zinc is not a drug, it's a vitamin. Are we going to regulate vitamins too? Food?
- ModX, on 06/29/2009, -2/+6Has anyone posting here actually used it? I works really well.
The loss of smell on the other hand was an unknown side effect that I was unaware of. Hence, regulation and testing would be a good thing. - DoubtingThomas, on 06/29/2009, -1/+4"but of Zinc? Zinc is not a drug, it's a vitamin. Are we going to regulate vitamins too? Food?"
Zinc is elemental metal and is known to be toxic to nasal membranes.
http://www.denvernaturopathic.com/zicam2008.htm - damnshoes, on 06/29/2009, -1/+4mmmm, horny goat weed.
- megaton, on 06/29/2009, -0/+3Automatic approval for something that does nothing at all is not a "hole".
The definition of homeopathic is dilution of a chemical until it has no trace of the original substance. In this case, the original substance (zinc) was, in fact, present. Therefore, Zicam is NOT homeopathic.
Approving something as homeopathic that IS NOT homeopathic is the "hole". - DontHassleHoff, on 06/29/2009, -0/+3One huge way that these 'medicines' and supplements get on the market is through the loophole that they claim they are selling a product that is naturally found in our food supply. This is why some steroids and prohormones are legally sold over the counter -- they sell a pre-cursor to the steroid that is naturally found in beef, but in infinitesimally small amounts. So if the active ingredient in the supplement can be found in a food product, no matter how small the amount, that supplement can then be sold legally because it is a 'distillation' or concentration of a product already found in food.
- FervinsUlterius, on 06/29/2009, -2/+5"The only thing homeopathy can cure is thirst" - Phil Plaitt
- SmokenJoe, on 06/29/2009, -2/+5Dont forget that many of our drugs would be considered herbals if introduced today Aspirin is a prime example. It still qualifies as a herbal- willow bark. Unfortunately 10 yeas to get approved and insane amounts of dollars are required for approval. Note that just about any herbal that is effective is going to have some side effect and dangerous if abused. I think the writer would be sorely disappointed if they looked at the real quality of the research in getting drugs approved- it is drug company funded and often hardly lives up to the hype. Things get past that system too and other good drugs get banned from funding and poor marketing. You are an adult if you feel the need to use a alternative med then do the research most are junk but others can kill. T
- yournightmare, on 06/29/2009, -0/+2Where's my ***** opium, then?
- FervinsUlterius, on 06/29/2009, -1/+3actually it isn't homeopathic at all - zicam has an active ingredient mixed with homeopathic nothings.
- Lefts, on 06/29/2009, -1/+3Developers that are not big pharma have their place.
They develop the drug, then get bought by big pharma.
Then repeat. - sdipaola, on 06/29/2009, -0/+2good points
- publiclurker, on 06/29/2009, -0/+2That's assuming that the snake oil actually works. Let's face it, it it worked, the pharmacy companies would come up with their own version of them.
- publiclurker, on 06/29/2009, -0/+2Homeopathic remedies have been exempt for a long time. If I recall, an early senator was a quack that pushed it through.
- lamejoketeller, on 06/29/2009, -0/+2Um...explain how.
- lamejoketeller, on 06/29/2009, -4/+6"If alternative medicine did anything at all, it would simply be called 'medicine.'"
-Richard Dawkins - skeptologic, on 06/29/2009, -1/+3I think you are misunderstanding. Zicam claims to be homeopathic, but it is not. The concentration of active ingredient it claims is not homeopathic. They can avoid testing by claiming to be homeopathic, so they are actually lying on two fronts.
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1If Zicam works so well, why are they so afraid to prove that it isn't harmful, or go through a some trials to prove it's effectiveness. Does taking zinc reduce your viral load? Does it damage your liver? These seem like pertinent questions for a flu treatment.
- macromorgan, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Unfortunately neither was spoken by Professor Farnsworth, so no. :-(
- guyincognitoo, on 06/29/2009, -0/+1If you change the delivery mechanism of something, it can significantly change what it does to you. You can take iron suppliants intramuscular as well as by IV if you need to. Some IV iron has even been patented. It is shielded by a carbohydrate shell which is what the patent is really for.
http://www.drugs.com/cdi/dexferrum.html
http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/15/ ... - sirdarksoul, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1What? Doesn't anyone listen to televised prescription drug commercials with their laundry list of possible side effects? If the FDA approves a drug with 15 possible side effects, many similar to the malady they're purported to treat, I'd call that a big ***** hole in drug regulation!
- zaren, on 06/29/2009, -1/+2Regulation needs to be tightened up in both directions. Post Cereals will apparently have to change their labeling and marketing for Cheerios after the FDA labeled Cheerios a drug for stating that it can help lower cholesterol.
- SpinningHead, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1And yet they cost more than many prescription drugs. Quite a racket.
- Royish, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1You would need to have faith in it because it is *****.
- Demener, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Well ***** I've used that stuff recently.
I only used it a couple times since it hurt like hell and felt way too strong.
I still seem to have an intact sense of smell though. - inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+13rd: putting a bunch of anything up your nose (especially a metallic suspension) is probably not good for you.
- SpinningHead, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1And yet they cost more than many prescription drugs. Quite a racket.
- skeptologic, on 06/29/2009, -1/+2Yes, many drugs are found in nature. The point is that double blind, pier reviewed scientific testing is better than some schmuck saying "buy my weed to cure your ills, it works, it's all natural." When a compound in a plant is found to be effective, the drug industry can isolate it, purify it and mass produce it. That way you know you are actually getting what is in the bottle and at the proper dose. Many unregulated herbs have been found to contain other crap in them like lead and mercury to name a couple. Herbs are drugs too and should be regulated as such. All natural=irrelevant.
- FreeTalkLIve, on 06/29/2009, -3/+4Zicam stops my allergy attacks within 10 mins.
There is something in it that knocks that ***** right out. - guyincognitoo, on 06/29/2009, -0/+1They are still studying the COX-2 drugs for other uses, like in cancer treatment.
http://www.urotoday.com/61/browse_categories/prost ... - jonnyeh, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Got any reliable stats to back up that big claim? Also consider how many lives are saved and improved by these drugs.
- jonnyeh, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Yet according to the FDA's laws, Zicam is technically homeopathic. But I think that homeopathic medicine should not get a free pass. Why should companies be allowed to market placebos like homeopathy by lying about their effectiveness and safety? That's basically what the current rules allow.
The double standard needs to end. Either the product has met the standards or not. - f00ster, on 06/29/2009, -2/+31st as said above, ZICAM is not Homeopathic.
2nd
Regulation is crazy talk - Herbal remedies have been used for many generations - wether they work or not, regulating these are nonsense.
3rd
Zicam is mostly zinc - the 2nd most common mineral in the body and I would be skeptical as to wether or not there was a political motivation behind a FLU remedy being marketed at this time by a company that is not part of the 110 billion dollar scam that was passed earlier this year in the appropriation bill for tamiflu and new vacines.
here is a link for some kickback on the last FDA head
http://tpzoo.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/fda-chairman ...
4th
The FDA messess up more than enough - the regulation is too costly to do for a dandilion tea or cammile which cannot be patented - an therefore will never be brought in for testing by a 'big pharma'. Further, as herbal remedies (wether or not you believe work) will not be tested because you cant make medically accurate batches and consistent mixes.
5th
under FDA regulations today, paracetamol would be banned! - catalogbiz, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0Uh, not true. Where do you morons get this information? The nutritional supplement industry IS fully regulated, http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Guidanc ...
Homeopathy is separately regulated by the fda as it is a completely different modality than herbal and nutritional therapies. - catalogbiz, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0Here's aspirins total ALONE which has only increased since 1996:
"Each year, use of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) accounts for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States." (NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, and tiaprofenic acid.)
Source: Robyn Tamblyn, PhD; Laeora Berkson, MD, MHPE, FRCPC; W. Dale Jauphinee, MD, FRCPC; David Gayton, MD, PhD, FRCPC; Roland Grad, MD, MSc; Allen Huang, MD, FRCPC; Lisa Isaac, PhD; Peter McLeod, MD, FRCPC; and Linda Snell, MD, MHPE, FRCPC, "Unnecessary Prescribing of NSAIDs and the Management of NSAID-Related Gastropathy in Medical Practice," Annals of Internal Medicine (Washington, DC: American College of Physicians, 1997), September 15, 1997, 127:429-438, from the web at http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/15sep97/n ... last accessed Feb. 14, 2001, citing Fries, JF, "Assessing and understanding patient risk," Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology Supplement, 1992;92:21-4. - skeptologic, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0The FDA performs the tests so we will know what the possible side effects are. That is the whole point. They will still approve a drug if it has side effects. The purpose of the testing is to make sure the drug does what the seller claims it does, what possible side effects might occur, and how safe it is. The only way to do that is with a double blind clinical trial.
- SpinningHead, on 06/30/2009, -1/+1"Regulation is crazy talk - Herbal remedies have been used for many generations - wether they work or not, regulating these are nonsense."
This has nothing to do with requiring FDA approval for herbs. You can still buy herbs. This is about snake oil that is sold in the pharmacy as "medicine". -
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