From New Zealand Doctor Online:
“Pharmacists are scientists, and I urge them not to sell products that are proven to be ineffective”, states Dr. Shaun Holt in the latest issue of Pharmacy Today.
Mirroring a similar call made by Professor Ernst in the UK, Dr. Holt said that homeopathic products did not contain any active ingredient but supposedly had energy of substances that were in the product before they were diluted away. “Not only does this make no sense, it has never been demonstrated and there is a US$1 million prize for the first person to show that this occurs”.
Dr Holt continued: “homeopathic products are not just very diluted – they are so diluted there’s nothing there. It is like pouring a cup of coffee into Lake Taupo and then taking a cup of water from the lake the next day and describing that water as “dilute coffee”, and saying that you will get an even bigger boost from it than regular coffee as the dilution has increased its power”. ...more
Showing posts with label homeopathic remedies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeopathic remedies. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Boots accused of selling quack medicines
From the Guardian (UK):
Boots, the high street chemist, is becoming the country's largest seller of quack medicine, according to Britain's leading scientific expert on alternative therapies.
Talking at the Hay literary festival today, Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, is to criticise the company for selling alternative medicines, in particular more than 50 homeopathic remedies, which are shown by clinical trials to be no more effective than sugar pills.
Boots, which has 1,500 stores across the UK, stocks 55 homeopathic therapies, 34 of which are sold under the company's own brand.
Ernst accuses the company of breaching ethical guidelines drawn up by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, by failing to tell customers that its homeopathic medicines contain no active ingredients and are ineffective in clinical trials.
"The population at large trusts Boots more than any other pharmacy, but when you look behind the smokescreen, when it comes to alternative medicines, that trust is not justified. You can buy a lot of rubbish, with covert advertising stating things that are overtly wrong. People are spending their money on stuff that doesn't work," he said. "Boots seems to be fast becoming the biggest seller of quack remedies in UK high streets." ...more
Boots, the high street chemist, is becoming the country's largest seller of quack medicine, according to Britain's leading scientific expert on alternative therapies.
Talking at the Hay literary festival today, Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, is to criticise the company for selling alternative medicines, in particular more than 50 homeopathic remedies, which are shown by clinical trials to be no more effective than sugar pills.
Boots, which has 1,500 stores across the UK, stocks 55 homeopathic therapies, 34 of which are sold under the company's own brand.
Ernst accuses the company of breaching ethical guidelines drawn up by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, by failing to tell customers that its homeopathic medicines contain no active ingredients and are ineffective in clinical trials.
"The population at large trusts Boots more than any other pharmacy, but when you look behind the smokescreen, when it comes to alternative medicines, that trust is not justified. You can buy a lot of rubbish, with covert advertising stating things that are overtly wrong. People are spending their money on stuff that doesn't work," he said. "Boots seems to be fast becoming the biggest seller of quack remedies in UK high streets." ...more
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