A Trip To The Chemist.

[AnotherSillyAlias]

On our stove buying trip to town to get a new one today we called into the chemist, (Read: Drugstore for Americans), to get a script filled for the wife.

While waiting there I see some nicely coloured bottles of hangover cure sitting on the counter. Hey ho, this is what old Alias needs so I grab one and look for the ingredients. A lovely collection of homeopathic "remedies"! Excellent, just what I need!

Why the hell is the chemist, a place for dispensing medicines and the like, selling this crap?

One of these bottles, about 200 ml by the look of it, cost $16.

Yes folks, for only $16 you can have a 200 ml bottle of water, a sure hangover cure.

 

[a_unique_person]

They are full of that crap now. Including 'treatments' for such conditions as snoring, which I find highly irresponsible, as snoring can be associated with sleep apnea, which can be medically quite serious.

Also hematite wristbands, "Dick Wicks" magnetic pain relief. It's a disgrace.

 

[Dymanic]

Why the hell is the chemist, a place for dispensing medicines and the like, selling this crap?

Uh... for profit?

Yes folks, for only $16 you can have a 200 ml bottle of water, a sure hangover cure.

I don't know about a cure, but it ought to be effective enough as a hangover preventative (providing it is used as an alternative to drinking alcohol).

I continue to get a kick out of the helpful little "Similar Threads" menu at the bottom of the page. Evidently, the word "trip" in this thread's OP was treated as the most salient, triggering this list of suggested threads:

Oh man....what year is it? (Defcon/Vegas trip report)

Trip to Jupiter

Annual Trip to a Mall...

My Trip Out West... including Vegas!

ATLARGE Trip Report...

I mean, if it doesn't work any better than that, why bother? Am I the only one bugged by this?

 

[El Greco]

Why the hell is the chemist, a place for dispensing medicines and the like, selling this crap?

Because if he doesn't the customer will go to another chemist. As long as goverments allow this kind of BS, lots of distribution channels will continue to exist. And to be honest, no goverment could forbid to anyone to try whatever he may think that will improve his health.

It's the same with doctors; lots of homeopaths are also certified MDs, it's just that they see the chance to make more money with homeopathy.

 

[Diamond]

My view is that homeopathy is the perfect medication for hypochondriacs.

 

[rwguinn]

On our stove buying trip to town to get a new one today we called into the chemist, (Read: Drugstore for Americans), to get a script filled for the wife.

While waiting there I see some nicely coloured bottles of hangover cure sitting on the counter. Hey ho, this is what old Alias needs so I grab one and look for the ingredients. A lovely collection of homeopathic "remedies"! Excellent, just what I need!

Why the hell is the chemist, a place for dispensing medicines and the like, selling this crap?

One of these bottles, about 200 ml by the look of it, cost $16.

Yes folks, for only $16 you can have a 200 ml bottle of water, a sure hangover cure.

Beware of that cure!
It contains so little Single Malt that, as Homeopathy decrees, it will make you roaring drunk on a mere drop!

 

[Soapy Sam]

I emailed "Boots" twice a couple of years ago, about copper bracelets and homoeopathic remedies. Standard replies about "Selling what the customer wants. " No attempt at education. Shareholder bottom line.

Still, a question. If there's nothing but water in a bottle of hom. stuff, would we all be willing to drink it in one gulp?

 

[Underemployed]

I sure would. Doesn't James Randi regularly and publicly drink a homeopathically-prepared lethal dose of arsenic? Of course, they would argue, this should actually be good for you...maybe he should be drinking homeopathic vitamin C.

 

[Lisa Simpson]

I emailed "Boots" twice a couple of years ago, about copper bracelets and homoeopathic remedies. Standard replies about "Selling what the customer wants. " No attempt at education. Shareholder bottom line.

Still, a question. If there's nothing but water in a bottle of hom. stuff, would we all be willing to drink it in one gulp?

Those Belgian skeptics did it, without any ill effects.

 

[JamesM]

I wouldn't take a homeopathic preparation in one gulp - you really have no idea how good the quality control at a homeopathy factory is.

 

[PatKelley]

I wouldn't take a homeopathic preparation in one gulp - you really have no idea how good the quality control at a homeopathy factory is.

Yeah- you might drink a 30x and cause enough of it to enter your system to dilute it to a 32x - then you're stuck with so little effective dose that by homeopathic standards you might explode!

 

[JamesM]

Yeah- you might drink a 30x and cause enough of it to enter your system to dilute it to a 32x - then you're stuck with so little effective dose that by homeopathic standards you might explode!

In case you aren't deliberately misinterpreting my post for the purposes of humour: homeopathic preparations are (obviously) not prepared to pharmaceutical standards. There might be other impurities that aren't mentioned on the ingredients that could do some damage if taken in sufficient quantities.

A potentially analogous situation is that of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is unregulated in the UK, and where vendors are only likely to be caught and prosecuted after you've done yourself in.

Also, some 'remedies' labelled as homeopathic are sufficiently concentrated that a genuine chemical effect could occur.

 

[azazal]

I sure would. Doesn't James Randi regularly and publicly drink a homeopathically-prepared lethal dose of arsenic? Of course, they would argue, this should actually be good for you...maybe he should be drinking homeopathic vitamin C.

Side question, how come you never hear of some one demanding homeopathic novocaine when going to the dentist?

 

[Kenny 10 Bellys]

I heard an anonymous (to me at any rate) comedian on a radio chat show say that, in his ideal world, these 'alternative medicine' practitioners and supporters should be barred from seeking normal medical help and rely solely on their own concoctions for the rest of their lives. I think this policy, whilst perhaps a little harsh, would certainly cut down on the nonsense within a very few years.

Imagine a car crash where an ambulance speeds to the bleeding and crushed victims aid, only to place crystals on vital chakra points to clear the poor sods third eye and realign his energies. In a similar vein I'd love to post the cartoon series printed in a recent Viz comic where there is a parody of WWII action comics of my youth. In it a gruff sergeant is wounded in the stomach by a sniper whilst clearing a house in 1944, only to have his medic save him by giving him a bath of essential oils, rubbing some crystals and chanting a bit. He then proceeds to kill the sniper by use of reverse Feng-Shui, reorganising the snipers nest to disrupt the harmonious energies in the room whilst shouting "Take that you swine!" Priceless.

 

[LordoftheLeftHand]

Beware of that cure!
It contains so little Single Malt that, as Homeopathy decrees, it will make you roaring drunk on a mere drop!

IF homeopathy worked and like actually cured like, wouldn't you need the same brand of beer to cure it? Or at the very least wouldn't you need a whiskey remedy after a night of whiskey drinking?

LLH

 

[kmortis]

IF homeopathy worked and like actually cured like, wouldn't you need the same brand of beer to cure it? Or at the very least wouldn't you need a whiskey remedy after a night of whiskey drinking?

LLH

Mebbe that's where the "hair of the dog" cure came from. Except that it's more of a 1C or 2C tintcure.

 

[Rolfe]

Imagine a car crash where an ambulance speeds to the bleeding and crushed victims aid, only to place crystals on vital chakra points to clear the poor sods third eye and realign his energies. In a similar vein I'd love to post the cartoon series printed in a recent Viz comic where there is a parody of WWII action comics of my youth. In it a gruff sergeant is wounded in the stomach by a sniper whilst clearing a house in 1944, only to have his medic save him by giving him a bath of essential oils, rubbing some crystals and chanting a bit. He then proceeds to kill the sniper by use of reverse Feng-Shui, reorganising the snipers nest to disrupt the harmonious energies in the room whilst shouting "Take that you swine!" Priceless.

Courtesy of David Colquhoun.

Rolfe.

 

[luchog]

IF homeopathy worked and like actually cured like, wouldn't you need the same brand of beer to cure it? Or at the very least wouldn't you need a whiskey remedy after a night of whiskey drinking?

I tend to prefer Bloody Marys or Mimosa, but then I never get hangovers.

 

[sputnik]

I wouldn't take a homeopathic preparation in one gulp - you really have no idea how good the quality control at a homeopathy factory is.

I believe Randi did just this in front of a room full of politicians / vested interests / bleevers - he got one of them to purchase 2 boxes of 50 "sleeping tablets" from a local drugstore. They had the dire warning of not taking more than 2 in any 8 hours (obviously so they appear to be a "real" medicine to gullible punters).

Randi proceeded to swallow the lot in front of them, to no ill effect

 

[sputnik]

Yes folks, for only $16 you can have a 200 ml bottle of water, a sure hangover cure.

I can vouch that this particular homeopathic remedy really does work!

However, 200ml is not enough - I normally go for at least 568ml, perhaps even 2 pints after a good session. You must drink it before going to sleep though - and place a spare pint of this amazing nectar for those middle of the night wake up thirst and bursts too!

Luckily, this and every other homeopathic remedy known, is available to me on tap for around £1 per 100 gallons!