Why is homeopathy legal?

[Elok]

I mean, it's clearly making medical claims, and those medical claims are clearly false, right? It's not like with drugs, where illegal drug sales result in contaminated drugs hitting the street, addicts, overdoses, etc. The whole problem is that the product doesn't do anything, since it's indistinguishable from tap water. So . . . is there some big Quack Medicine Lobby at work here, like maybe they banded together with the crystals and auras people? Or are senators afraid of angering their kook constituents?

[Al B. Sure!]

Oops. Got it confused with Osteopathy.

[Lorizael]

Homeopathy is legal because a senator who believed in the crap pushed for it to be made legal when the FDA was created 80 years ago.

[Elok]

Ah, that explains it. Thanks, Lori. Next question: why do you think haven't we since made it illegal? Fake medicine seems a lot more serious than creationism in schools.

Oops. Got it confused with Osteopathy.

I was going to say, seriously?

I never met a doctor of homeopathy, personally. I did run into a Voodoo Proctologist once, though. He said prostate checks were much more comfortable for his patients; technically, they were finished the moment he shoved his hand up the puppet's arse. The little song-and-dance show he did for them afterwards was just so they felt they got their money's worth.

[Lorizael]

Ah, that explains it. Thanks, Lori. Next question: why do you think haven't we since made it illegal? Fake medicine seems a lot more serious than creationism in schools.

That's a difficult question to answer. The best I've been able to come up with is that, because homeopathic remedies have no active ingredients, they're very unlikely to cause any direct harm to patients. The harm they cause is indirect, in that they may delay or prevent patients from taking real drugs.

[Colonâ„¢]

The little song-and-dance show he did for them afterwards was just so they felt they got their money's worth.

The little song-and-dance is actually the competetive advantage homeopathy has. The placebo effect has been shown to work even when people were told in advance they were given a placebo, due to the simple fact people were given the feeling they were being taken care of. This is why it's impossible to dissuade many from homeopathy, no matter how many facts you throw at them. Conventional medical care pays too little attention to the comfort of patients, while homeopathy makes a point of it.

[Colonâ„¢]

The legality of homeopathy bothers me less than the fact it actually gets covered by health insurance, while we'd have to skimp on expensive cancer treatments and such.

[Lorizael]

The little song-and-dance is actually the competetive advantage homeopathy has. The placebo effect has been shown to work even when people were told in advance they were given a placebo, due to the simple fact people were given the feeling they were being taken care of. This is why it's impossible to dissuade many from homeopathy, no matter how many facts you throw at them. Conventional medical care pays too little attention to the comfort of patients, while homeopathy makes a point of it.

The placebo effect is more complicated than that. Briefly, there is no single placebo effect, but a variety of observational effects that appear to be real but may be nothing more than statistical noise.

Here's a good overview.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Why would you want to ban anything that is not harming others? If you want to knock yourself out with expensive water - go right ahead. Do we need homeopathic war? Wars on drugs, terrorists and evolution are enough.

[Lorizael]

Why would you want to ban anything that is not harming others? If you want to knock yourself out with expensive water - go right ahead. Do we need homeopathic war? Wars on drugs, terrorists and evolution are enough.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/homeopathy-kills/

But homeopathy can still kill. Thomas Sam, a homeopath, and his wife, Manju Sam, are standing trial in an Australian court for manslaughter by gross criminal negligence. They allowed their 9 month old child to die from complications of severe eczema. According to reports, their daughter, Gloria, was healthy at birth. But at 4 months old she developed a skin rash, which became progressively worse. Sam decided to treat the eczema with homeopathic treatments – which means not to treat it at all. He sought advice from other homeopaths and naturopaths.

He also refused to follow the advice of the child’s pediatrician to take her to skin specialist to get more aggressive treatment. As a result Gloria’s eczema worsened. Her skin became thin and cracked, resulting in infections, and eventually septicemia and death. Standard medical treatments could have saved her right up until days before her death. This seems to be a case of ideology trumping common sense, evidence, and all reason.

[Colonâ„¢]

The placebo effect is more complicated than that. Briefly, there is no single placebo effect, but a variety of observational effects that appear to be real but may be nothing more than statistical noise.

Here's a good overview.

The author actually agrees with the notion conventional, science-based medicine should pay more attention to the psychological.

[Ban Kenobi]

We might as well ban every wacky form of alternative medicine including Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Ear Candling, coffee enemas, Bach flower remedies, faith healing, magnetic field therapy, psychic surgery, acupuncture, chiropractic (when not used for back pain), colloidal silver, male enhancement pills, Cansema, Laetrile, "the Germanic New Medicine", trepanation, sungazing, bloodletting (it's still around!), and "rebirthing".

[Elok]

Acupuncture, last I heard, actually worked for some things; it's just not clear why. Trepanation--is that the stone-age-brain-surgery deal?--I think that's actually still used for legitimate medical purposes, like relieving excessive cerebrospinal fluid or some such. Generally, I'm comfortable with banning most everything that makes a clear, provably false medical claim. Faith healing might be iffy with the first amendment; the rest can die.

Certainly bloodletting, if it is still done, should be annihilated.

[Elok]

Why would you want to ban anything that is not harming others? If you want to knock yourself out with expensive water - go right ahead. Do we need homeopathic war? Wars on drugs, terrorists and evolution are enough.

I don't see what complications would follow. WoD is bad because of organized crime, contaminated drugs, and addiction. I guess some shady quack could deliberately contaminate his tap water with arsenic or something, but I can't imagine why. Arsenic costs money, while tap water is essentially free. I also don't think there's anything in place to keep homeopathic water from being contaminated now.

[Guynemer]

That's a difficult question to answer. The best I've been able to come up with is that, because homeopathic remedies have no active ingredients, they're very unlikely to cause any direct harm to patients. The harm they cause is indirect, in that they may delay or prevent patients from taking real drugs.

They are also quite expensive, and take money away from the people who buy them, with no benefit whatsoever.

One born every minute.